Vanishing Act
by DystantWyte
Summary: After the Final Battle, Harry can finally live his own life. Except he doesn't know how. He decides he needs a break from it all, but it ends up longer than he expected. Will his friends and family still be there when he returns? What happened to him while he was away? Is his job finally done? AU, HP/GW. Rated M because they're all adults, mostly.
1. Prologue

Vanishing Act

Ch.1- Prologue

**A/N: This story sort of evolved out of my first story, which was didn't deviate far enough from canon to make me feel like I was writing something that was my own. This story is much more AU, and I've quite enjoyed myself brainstorming it, so I think it will turn out well. Please enjoy!**

Harry Potter was sitting on the edge of his old bed in Gryffindor tower, his head in his hand, elbows on his knees, staring out over the grounds through the gaping hole in the wall. He was deep in his own thoughts, his own pain. He had done it, he had finally killed Voldemort, his destiny been fulfilled in a beam of white light that had turned the Dark Lord to ash. All he had ever envisioned about his future was accomplished, and contrary to all the odds, he was alive. Harry had believed that he had felt every painful emotion a person could feel, but this; this hollow, directionless feeling was new to him. He sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes. He didn't have any plans, no fate, no looming battle that he might not survive. He had wanted this since he had learned about the prophecy, but now that he had it, he had no clue what to do with it. So he sat, lost in thought, for the better part of the day. Finally, after much deliberation, he had come up with a plan. It was stupid, reckless, ill thought-out, selfish. It was perfect. He finally stood, his beaten body protesting the movement, and hauled himself down to the common room. He glanced about the room, only barely managing to brace himself as Hermione hit him, wrapping her arms around him. He squeezed her gently and she stepped back to Ron's side, his hand resting on the small of her back. Harry grinned at his two oldest friends, who had finally realized what they were to each other. "It's over Harry, it's finally over!" Hermione was grinning and Ron was looking down at her lovingly.

"I know, it's insane, all my life building up to one thing, and it's finally done," Harry sighed slightly, looking at his friends, seeing how happy they were.

"Oh, come on Harry, you have to want to do something now that your life is your own, don't you?" Ron gripped Harry's shoulder, chuckling at him.

"Well, I kinda have a plan, I guess," He figured it would be best to spill now, to get it out in the open.

"Oh, what is it Harry? Are you going to be an Auror? I bet you could even be Minister, or play Quidditch, or, well, whatever you want really," Hermione's eyes were bright with excitement at the thought of what he could accomplish.

"Actually, I did some thinking, and I realized something. There isn't anywhere here for me. It all reminds me of _him. _And if it doesn't, it reminds me of Sirius, or Dumbledore, or Colin, or Luna, or the rest of the people who died. I think I need to leave the country for a while, to allow the wounds to heal. I'm going to go out in the world, I'm going to learn all the magic I can from wherever I can, and when I'm ready, I'll come back to you all," He laid his plans out, and he saw Hermione's face fall, her excitement replaced by horror, and anger, and pain. She screamed at him, unleashing a fury he had never seen.

"How can you do this to us? We are your family! You can't just leave! Not after all we've been through together!" She howled and spun on her heel, storming out of the room, leaving a crestfallen Harry, and Ron, who looked apologetic.

"I understand Harry, I don't like it, but I respect it. Go, do what you need to do, but swear to me that you'll come home, someday,"

"I swear Ron, I won't leave forever, and someday I'll come home,"

"And you'd better write. And send souvenirs. Lots of souvenirs." He clapped Harry on the arm and followed Hermione out. Harry sighed and slumped down onto the familiar couch, his eyelids growing heavy

Harry was awoken by a stinging slap to the face from a very angry Ginny Weasley. He looked up, blinking sleep from his eyes, and saw the fury in her face. She was beautiful when she was angry. He opened his mouth, but she cut him off, launching into a scathing tirade. "Harry James Potter, what the hell do you think you are doing? I waited for you this whole year, hell, I waited my whole damn life! And as soon as you come back to me, what do you do?"

"Ginny-"

"No, you listen to me. If you leave me again, it's over; I'm not waiting for you anymore. I'm not some object that can be put on the shelf and only taken down when you want me," Her voice broke, the tears pushing through. When she spoke again, it was softer, "I can't lose you again, Harry. It would break me," She sobbed quietly, but Harry reached up and brushed away her tears with his thumb, cupping her cheek in his palm.

"Then don't"

"Don't what?"

"Lose me. Come with me. I love you Ginny, I won't leave behind again, you mean too much to me," He pulled her into his lap, her eyes met with his, emotions surging through her. This was what she always wanted, to be included, to be treated like an adult, to be with Harry Potter. It was a dream come true. But fear still clutched in her chest.

"What about my parents?"

"They'll come to terms with it by the time we get back, and if they don't, well, it won't matter, because we'll have each other," He pulled her tighter to him, and her sobbing lessened.

"You mean it?"

"With every fiber of my soul. When I said everything here had bad memories, I lied. You are full of only good memories for me Ginny," He pressed his lips to hers, softly at first, but quickly deepening, until he became lost in the feel of her skin and the smell of her hair. After a long while, she broke away, grinning, the tears gone from her eyes.

"But seriously, what about my parents?" She was smiling, but Harry could tell she was still worried.

"Must we tell them? Can't we just let them know right as we're leaving so they can't stop us?" Harry whined, grinning slightly.

"That's not a terrible plan. We can send a nice letter after were already gone," She had that wicked grin that everyone feared but Harry adored. He chuckled.

"Sounds good then,"

"I can't believe it, Harry. Everything I've wanted all these years, and you've given it to me, all in one fell swoop. I love you, Harry Potter,"

"I love you, Ginny Weasley," He swept her up bridal style and bounded up the stairs to his dorm, where he laid her gently on his bed, before sliding in beside her, drawing the curtains around them both.

"Harry, what are we doing?"

"Well, you see, I was hurt pretty bad during the battle, so I need you to make sure I'm okay while I sleep, and I need you close incase anything happens," He grinned, his brilliant green eyes sparkling with mischief, and he kissed her forehead, "Good night, Ginny, big day tomorrow," and he fell asleep. Ginny snuggled closer to his chest, letting out a long contented sigh.

Morning came to early and Harry stretched, the soreness was much reduced from the previous day. He rolled over into the warm, Ginny scented space next to him, snuggling deeper into the covers before sitting bolt upright. Where was Ginny? His eyes flicked about the room, finally spying a piece of paper with Ginny's beautiful script. He snatched it up and opened it.

_Harry-_

_Hungry, gone to breakfast, love you,_

_-Ginny_

Harry sighed; last night hadn't been a dream. He was actually going to run away with the girl he loved. He smiled as he dressed, throwing on his least dirty pair of clothes. He made his way to the Great Hall with a spring in his step. He was grinning when he was intercepted by Fred and George, who each grabbed an arm, guiding him towards the crowd of red-heads. "I'm impressed Harry, not only did you survive the wrath of Ginny,"

"She looks positively glowing today,"

"Makes us wonder,"

"What you're doing to our dear sister,"

"Before you run off again," The twins both eyed Harry, grinning evilly. Harry only chuckled. He slipped away from the twins and dropped into a seat next to Ginny, immediately tucking into breakfast. He was halfway through his first plate of eggs when Mrs. Weasley finally interrupted.

"Harry, dear, I respect that you are an adult and capable of making your own choices, but are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes Mrs. Weasley, I'm sure. I swear I'll come back, but I need some time,"

"But how much time?" By now all the Weasleys were listening. Harry could tell that they all knew of his plan, as their faces were a range of sadness and disappointment, mixed with some acceptance.

"I don't know, maybe a year or two. 'Till I feel ready really," He shrugged; he had not given the length of his absence much thought.

"When will you leave?"

"As soon as I finish breakfast, I need to get a few things, but I'll be gone before the week is out," He saw Mrs. Weasley suck in her breath, she seemed to steel herself and turned to Ginny. Harry knew she was playing her trump card.

"And what do you think about this Ginny?" Harry swore he almost saw a collective smirk cross the faces of the Weasley clan.

"I think it's a fantastic opportunity and just what Harry needs," She grinned wide, taking in the shock of her family as she responded. Harry slid his plate away and stood, giving her a subtle wink as he did.

"But, Ginny, what makes you say that?" Mr. Weasley interjected, looking slightly flustered at the lack of rage from his daughter. They had expected her to try to hold Harry back, to prevent him from leaving, not to promote his second absence.

Ginny smiled and stood as well, and shrugged, "It's simple really, I'm going with him, and she turned, taking Harry's arm. As her family's faces shifted from surprise to rage and anger, she and Harry vanished with a loud pop.

Arthur Weasley watched as his only daughter vanished with the man he considered a son. He was not happy with the developments, but he knew she would be safe and happy, so he would make do. His wife was steaming, and his three eldest were already plotting horrible revenge. The twins were cackling loudly, calling it the greatest prank they had ever seen, and Ron was consoling a bawling Hermione. He sighed and sunk down next to his wife. At least it was only for a couple of years.

**A/N: There we go, the prologue is complete, the scene is set, let the fun begin. Thanks for reading, and please review. Any advice helps me become better.**


	2. Prodigal Daughter

Vanishing Act

Ch.2- Prodigal Daughter

A/N: This chapter jumps forward, and Harry and Ginny's experiences will slowly be revealed to their family in the midst of present events.

The Weasley clan sat around the Burrow's huge dining room table, all gathered for the celebration of the traditional family Christmas Eve dinner. Arthur Weasley looked out at his huge extended family, which had only grown in numbers. He and his wife sat at the head of the table, next to Bill, his eldest, and his wife Fleur and their daughter Victoire. Next was Charlie, who was still single. He claimed he was married to the Dragons, but Arthur had other suspicions. After that was Percy and his fiancée Penelope, followed by Fred and George, who were engaged to Alicia and Angelina, respectively. Beyond them were Ron and Hermione, who had not surprised anyone with their marriage. He sighed, his eyes resting on the two empty chairs at the end of the table. He always set them out, hoping that maybe this was the year that Ginny, his daughter, decided to return with Harry Potter. He had done so 9 times before, and 9 times they had sat empty. Instead, they waited for Hedwig to arrive, always right before the dessert course, bearing individually addressed letters to each couple, and one for Arthur to read to the group. And so, after the delicious dinner, they sat and waited in silence for the tapping on the window that signified the only contact with their estranged sibling, daughter, and friends. "Hedwig's never taken this long before; I wonder if the blizzard waylaid her?" Ron pondered quietly.

"Or maybe this is the year the letters stop, the year they've finally forgotten," Molly sobbed suddenly, and Arthur placed a hand on her shoulder to soothe her, but she was not to be comforted, "I guess I'll just go and get dessert, I knew they would never come back," She bustled away to the kitchen. Almost as soon as she left, a sharp rapping sounded through the house, and everyone shot to the window, only to find it disappointingly empty. As they turned to take their seats, the sound came again, and Ron sprung to his feet.

"It's the door! I got it!" He dashed into the parlor, with the rest of the family, minus his mother, close behind. He flung open the door, allowing a freezing wind to whirl through and revealing a petite figure in an emerald cloak, the hood pulled tight around her face. Ron stared at her curiously before finally letting her in; she brushed by him looking out at the packed parlor.

"Thank you Ron, it's bloody freezing outside," and with that, she flipped down her hood, allowing her red hair to flow down her back, "So, how is everybody?"

"G-Ginny?" Ron gaped at her as the family stared.

"Yes, Ron, now close your mouth, I don't want to see your tonsils, not even after all this time," She smirked and sniffed the air, "Mm, smells like treacle tart, Harry will be appreciative,"

"Harry's coming?" Hermione perked up at this, a sparkle coming back to her eyes.

"Of course, he would have come with me, but he was rather indisposed when I left," She smiled to herself, "Of course, we'll hold the questions 'till he arrives, but until then, I want a hug from every single one of you," Her words seemed to break the spell that had held them, and the family swarmed over their prodigal daughter, all hugging and kissing and smiling.

Finally, everyone was settled in the dining room again, simply waiting for Molly to return from her kitchen. Eventually, the door eased open, and Mrs. Weasley bustled out setting down the huge pan of treacle tart, smiling at all of her family, before freezing, her eyes locked with her daughter's. She leapt up with an agility that surprised everyone. "Ginerva Molly Weasley! What makes you think you can just show up in this house after a decade of absence?"

"Mum, I'm sorry, but it was time to come home. Oh, and its Potter now. Please don't be angry, we wanted to come back sooner, but we were busy," She knew that her mum was steaming, and a simple apology would not placate her, especially after she flashed the sparkling rings on her left hand. She braced herself for her mother's wrath. Suddenly, with a flash of green, her guardian angel stumbled out of the Floo. She smiled at Harry, who smiled softly and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and whispered in her ear, just loud enough that the rest of the room could hear.

"I missed you,"

Ginny smirked, "I was only gone a few minutes."

"It was like you were gone for days," He kissed her head quickly.

"And it was like you were gone a decade, oh wait, you were!" Hermione exploded, shouting at him, "Not a bloody thing except for a letter at Christmas, we didn't know where you were, or what was happening to you, you're bloody married and we didn't know a damn thing," Her reaction seemed to break the dam of emotions and soon the entire table was shouting.

"Ginerva, you can't just run off with a man and abandon your family, even if it is Harry bloody Potter!" Molly screamed, her face twisted with rage, "And you, young man, convincing my daughter to run away to Merlin knows where to do Merlin knows what when she isn't even a legal adult! You had no right! She should have stayed here! What about your education? What about your NEWTs?" She was beginning to wind down when Ron started up.

"Dammit Potter, I said I would understand, and damn I tried, but you said two years, it's been nine! You missed all the funerals, you missed your own Order of Merlin ceremony, and you missed our wedding Harry! Your two best friends got married, and you missed it!" He took a breath and turned to Ginny, "And you! You just left us behind, discarded us as soon as you got your chance to be with Harry Potter! Was your childhood fantasy really more important than us?" He jabbed a finger at her and she ducked her head, subtly shifting closer to Harry. Ron was about to continue with his tirade when Charlie cut him off.

"You think just because you're a war hero, you can steal my sister and take her away from her family? And then you have the balls to come back here and act like it's no big deal? You think you have some right to touch her, run your hands all over her, because you don't. If you can't keep your prick away from my sister, you don't get to keep it!" His wand was out in a flash, a curse leaping from its tip. It arced through the air and erupted where Harry and Ginny were standing, thick smoke obscuring them from sight. Charlie gulped as he watched it. He really hadn't been thinking when he had thrown the curse, and he could only hope he hadn't just killed his sister and Harry Potter. Slowly, the smoke cleared, revealing Harry, who had pulled Ginny to his chest, shielding her with his body, his back to the table. A shimmering shield enveloped them, protecting them. Harry released Ginny and turned back to the assembled family.

"You all got that out of your system now?" He had a gentle smile on his face, but there was a dangerous glint in his green eyes. The shock had seemed to break the shouting's momentum. Mrs. Weasley was glaring daggers at Harry, and Bill and Charlie looked sour. Hermione, however, threw her arms around Harry's neck, tears now streaming down her face.

"You were gone for so long, and we had no idea if you were okay, and…" She trailed off and he patted her on the back before releasing her. After she stepped away, the twins leapt up and threw their arms around the two, pretending to sob loudly. Slowly, the tension gave way to relief, and the returning couple was surrounded by people hugging and crying. Finally, Molly embraced her daughter, tears rolling down her face. She also hugged Harry, but when she let him go, she gave him a look.

"The two of us are going to have a talk later, Harry dear, so I can make sense of all this," Her tone still held a subtle edge and Harry could tell she was still upset, but before anyone else could speak, a small voice drifted from behind Harry's leg, inside his cloak.

"Dad, is this you and Ginny's family?" A small girl with raven hair and sparkling green eyes peeked out from his cloak. Harry swiftly picked her up and set her on his shoulders, and she looked down on the collected Weasley family with a slightly judgmental air.

"Yes dear, this is Ginny's family, and the closest thing I've ever had to one,"

"They're weird," she declared with finality.

"And that's why I love them, and I hope you'll love them too," Harry chuckled and reached up to ruffle her hair. Her timing was perfect, effectively saving Harry from Molly's anger that Harry had, well, eloped with her daughter.

"There are more of them then you said," the little girl sounded confused.

"No there aren't, don't you remember all of their names?"

"No, you said there wouldn't be a test," She frowned and Harry laughed, not noticing the rapt attention that the whole room had given to their conversation.

"All right, well those two are your Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, they're your godparents. Those two are your Aunt Fred and your Aunt George, and their fiancées. That's Uncle Percy and his fiancée, and that's Uncle Charlie, Uncle Bill, and Aunt Fleur with your cousin Victoire. And finally, at the very end down there, are your Grandpa and Grandma Weasley," Harry finished off the list with a grin, and the little girl nodded, contemplating the new information. She turned to Ginny and leaned down, almost knocking Harry off balance.

"Ginny, he's not pulling my leg is he? They're all our family?" She made big puppy dog eyes and Ginny kissed her forehead.

"Of course they are dear; Harry wouldn't lie to you about this,"

"I know, it just all seems too good to be true," She was smiling from ear to ear now, and Harry set her down on the ground again.

"That's exactly what I felt at first too, these people are the best family anyone could ask for. Now why don't you let Ginny give you the tour, and then you can put the decade's worth of Christmas presents under the tree for tomorrow, ok?" Harry ruffled her hair again and she grabbed Ginny's hand, pulling her out of the kitchen. When they were gone Harry adopted a serious face and turned to the family, "Alright, our exciting tale of adventure is incredibly long and not appropriate for the Christmas season, so we decided to hold on telling it until the day after tomorrow, however, to stave off the curiosity, I will answer one question from each of you tonight. You can take a minute to deliberate amongst yourselves before you begin. And Mrs. Weasley, I do hope you aren't mad about all of this, even if you have every right to be," His voice was businesslike, but when he addressed Mrs. Weasley, his eyes expressed remorse, but also a peace that had not been there before. If Molly had been mad before, which she had been, the way Harry looked at her daughter and the thrill of being called Grandma had muted it, masking it with a glowing joy at her whole, beautiful family. She figured she could save the shouting for two days.

After an intense huddle, the Weasleys returned to their seats and watched him expectantly, "Alright, we'll start with Mrs. Weasley, then Mr. Weasley, and then down from there by age. Mrs. Weasley?" The whole table turned to her.

"Harry, dear, when did you two get married?" She looked joyous, but the glint in her eyes betrayed her feelings. Harry had expected her to be upset to be cut out from the ceremony.

"January 1st, 2000. We figured there was no better way to start out a joyous new millennium of fresh starts. It was a simple ceremony, as we expected to have a renewing of vows with all of you on our first anniversary back, and we'll allow you to go all out for it," He smiled as her smile widened and the gears in her head began to churn.

"January 1st? But that's so soon!"

"If you don't think you can do it," Harry grinned at his mother-in-law.

"Shush, boy, I will manage," She shot him a glare, but her smile made it substantially less effective, "And Harry, you're married to my daughter, you can call me Molly, and my husband Arthur."

"Very well Mrs.- uh, Molly," He grinned sheepishly, "That's going to take some getting used to. Moving on, uh, Arthur," He stumbled with his father-in-law's name.

"Harry, why did you only ever write at Christmas? Would it have been too hard to check in from time to time?" Arthur was not upset, merely curious, and a little hurt.

"Ah, well, you see, we were going to write, and we did. After leaving our first location, we sent Ron and Hermione a postcard and a letter. We planned to keep up with all of you through post, but when our dear Hermione received the letter, she decided that it was her duty to try to trace it and bring us home, by force if needed. Luckily, we had already vacated the premise when she came charging through the wards. After that, we decided that we would only send one owl at Christmas, with all your letters while you were all together. We didn't want to be found, you see," He said simply, and the whole table turned to glare at Hermione, who winced and began to babble nonsensical excuses until Harry shushed her, "All is forgiven Hermione, I'm glad that you cared that much. Ok, Bill, you're next," He returned his attention to the scarred curse-breaker.

"Alright Harry, how long have you been back?" He fixed Harry with a piercing stare, and Harry glanced down at his watch.

"Uh, about 17 hours now, this was my third stop, Ginny's second, since we've been back."

"Oh, well, ok then," Bill seemed surprised, but also impressed

"Great, Fleur, you're up,"

"Ah, 'Arry, were did ze rings come from? Zey are very beautiful," She looked down at her own rings, as if comparing them in her mind.

"They once belonged to a Russian princess and her husband. They were a gift from a grateful friend," Harry looked down at his own ring, smiling slightly.

Charlie spoke up, unbidden, "So, how have you been treating my sister?" He was rolling his wand between his fingers.

"I would like to believe that I have been treating my wife as the angel she is, but really, you would have to ask her," He smirked at Charlie, before speaking again, "How is Talia by the way? I'm surprised you didn't bring her with you," He wore a knowing look, and Charlie suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

"Who is Talia, dear?" Molly asked pointedly.

"She, she was just a fling Mum! I-," He spluttered

"Oh, do you get engaged to everyone you have a fling with?" Harry interrupted and Charlie sunk into his chair. Molly looked about ready to explode, but Arthur put a hand on her arm.

"It can wait until we are done with Harry, dear," He said softly, and Molly sat back down. Harry turned his gaze to Percy. Percy huffed formally and spoke.

"Harry, I trust you have some form of occupation lined up?" He was as uptight as ever, Harry covered his chuckle with a cough.

"Yes, Percy, I have a form of occupation lined up. That is all I will say on the subject," Percy nodded curtly and Harry continued down the table. Penelope passed, and Fred and George asked together.

"So, my dear brother-in-law,"

"You wouldn't happen,"

"To know about any,"

"Large defense contracts that,"

"May have been granted to one,"

"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes,"

"For various Auror protections and the like,"

"Now would you?" They both looked at Harry, cocking their heads.

Harry laughed, "Let's just say your silent partner has been busy," Both men grinned and leapt up to shake Harry's hands. Harry jokingly pushed them off and answered Alicia and Angelina's Quidditch questions before turning to Hermione. Hermione glared down the table at her family.

"I can't believe none of you asked about the child," She turned to Harry, her mind whirring behind her eyes. Harry could tell she was trying to pick a question.

"Hermione, don't hurt yourself, just ask your questions, I'm just as surprised as you are that no one asked," Hermione smiled graciously at him before launching into her questions.

"Who is she?"

"My daughter Lily,"

"How old is she?"

"Eleven," Harry could see her confusion, "She's adopted,"

"Oh, well, were did she come from?"

"She was orphaned in Belarus. We rescued her from a castle dungeon,"

"Why was she in a dungeon?"

"It's a convoluted story, but here it goes. She was born sometime in 1996, her mother was a very powerful witch and her father seduced her to create a powerful baby. After she was born, her father murdered her mother and locked her in a dungeon for 5 years, waiting for her to mature. He was planning to turn her into a Horcrux, like Voldemort did to me, except he planned to kill her soul first, and replace it with a bit of his own, allowing it a vehicle to defend itself," He sighed, a weight seeming to build on his shoulders as he spoke. The whole table looked aghast.

"Then how did you end up with her?"

"We were in Belarus with our mentor at that time, and we made a stop in the village at the base of the castle. We found there an old house elf wandering through the town, pleading for help. We stopped and learned that he was tasked to watch over the girl, and his conscience had finally won out over his orders. He begged, and I couldn't resist. I charged into that castle and challenged the rising Dark Lord to a duel. This was also how I learned I'm immune to Avada Kedavra," Hermione gaped, but Harry continued, "I defeated him eventually, launched him off his tower to his death, and we rescued the poor little girl. We originally planned to find her a home in the village, but I couldn't. I know how that girl felt, I know what it's like to be treated like that," Harry was almost sobbing now, and his family simply stared, "I refused to leave her, and I told Ginny and my mentor so. Ginny was furious. We were newly married and she wanted me all to herself, and our mentor wasn't too happy either, but I couldn't let her go, and eventually they came around. She lived with Ginny for a month while I battled the paperwork to officially adopt the girl. She didn't even have a name. The bastard never even named her!" Harry slammed his fist into the table. He was shaking by this point, "I remember asking her what she wanted to be called, and she asked me to name her. I named her Lily, after my mother. She said she loved it, and that she loved me, and, well, the rest is history," Harry took a deep breath, stilling himself and wiping his eyes. They all sat for a moment in silence, mulling over Harry's incredible story before Hermione launched back into her questions.

"Why does she call you 'Dad' and Ginny 'Ginny'?" Harry laughed and she frowned.

"Because Ginny says that 'Mum' makes her sound old. Lily still does whenever she thinks she can get away with it, though," The family chuckled at this.

"You came back so she could go to Hogwarts, didn't you?"

"Yes, that was part of it. I hear they have a brilliant Arithmancy Professor now," Harry grinned at Hermione, who blushed at his praise.

"Thank you, Harry, that's all of I can think of for now," Hermione smiled softly and Harry relaxed.

"Good, that's all 'till the 26th then," Harry smiled, but Ron kicked him in the shin.

"Hey, you forgot me, you git," He frowned at Harry, who rolled his eyes and smiled.

"I suppose I did, make it good then," He looked at Ron intently, who thought for a second, before speaking.

"So, where all did you go on this decade-long vacation of yours?" He grinned as Hermione nodded in approval. Harry opened his mouth, but Ginny cut him off as she and Lily re-entered the dining room.

"Oh, it wasn't a vacation; it was hard work, all of it. It was like nine extra years of school. Harry here decided that it would be fun to travel to all the far flung corners of the world and learn every form of magic there is, and I got to tag along for the ride," She frowned at Harry, but he only chuckled. Lily slipped back into Harry's cloak and tucked herself against his leg again, completely hidden except for two points of sparkling green.

"Come on, Gin, you had a great time, and if my memory serves, you were the one who suggested the far flung corners of the world. What was it, oh yes, 'Come on, Harry, love, I want to see the world! I've never travelled before, not anywhere! Please? Please, please, please?' all day and night. Plus, you were excited to learn how to best your brothers in a duel, weren't you?" Harry's impression of Ginny was disturbingly accurate, and his gentle laugh made her frown crumble as he pulled her close, kissing her quickly on the lips. She rolled under Harry's arm opposite of Lily and he pulled her into his side. His eyes flicked around the table. Ron was watching Hermione, who was barely holding back a monsoon of questions. The twins and their girls had quickly begun to snog, while Percy and Penelope were discussing some politics or something, which, Harry supposed, was like snogging for them. Charlie still looked upset and Bill and Fleur were having a quiet conference with Molly and Arthur. Harry felt a contented smile spread across his face. It was good to be home.

A/N: The first story chapter is done, so please tell me what you think. It's not hard, just hit the review button. As always, thanks for reading.

EDIT*Between the reviews and the fact that this didn't come out how I liked, I changed it a little and add some more drama to Harry and Ginny's return.*


	3. Yuletide

Vanishing Act

Ch.3- Yuletide

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews; I made a couple changes to the second chapter accordingly, mainly about the reaction of the Weasleys. To address some specific questions/comments, Cartman, the story will focus on the whole family. Sbmcneil, there is more to Lily's story, which you will find out later. Anyways, enough with that; enjoy the new chapter.**

Harry Potter was up before the sun. It was Christmas morning, the first Christmas morning with his adoptive family, well, his real family now, since the defeat of Voldemort. He had nothing hanging over his head, and he was happier than he had ever been. He sat on a dresser, watching his two favorite girls snuggled together in bed. His wife and daughter. The very words sent little shivers of happiness through him. He checked his watch. 4:00 AM, perfect. He quietly shook Lily awake, and she slid out of bed, rubbing her eyes and stretching. Ginny shifted, but did not awake. Lily grabbed his wrist and checked his watch and frowned. He bent down and whispered something into her ear, and her frown twisted into a mischievous grin. A quick spell determined that everyone was still asleep, so the duo slipped out onto the landing. Harry pulled out his wand and tapped his throat with a whispered _Sonorus_. He repeated the spell on Lily, and counted to three with his fingers. On three, they raced up the stairs, banging on doors and screaming, "Christmas! It's Christmas! Get up, Get up! Presents! Christmas!" The pair finally slid back into Ginny's old room, diving back under the covers next to a now very awake and very grumpy Ginny.

"You two! What is the meaning of this?" She snapped, looking suddenly very much like her mother. Lily ducked her head, but Harry popped up and kissed her on the lips. She kissed back, and Harry wound his fingers into her hair, dragging her to the sheets.

"Hey! Dad, Mum! I'm right here! Yuck!" Lily covered her eyes and the two slowly pulled apart.

"Sorry Lils, your dad was trying to avoid explaining that racket to me," She shot Harry a look, and he quickly became very interested in the ceiling.

"It's Christmas Mum! We were excited!"

"It's four in the morning, no one is getting up yet," As the words left her lips, Ron banged the door open, a wild grin plastered on his face.

"C'mon, presents, get up!" He shouted, and Harry scooped up Lily and threw her over his shoulder, bounding after Ron. Ginny rolled her eyes and shot off after her husband.

By the time the family was all awake and seated around the breakfast table, Harry, Ron, and Lily were all bouncing with excitement. As Molly bustled into the room with a steaming platter, she gave them a curious glance, "I know that Ron is always this way, and I get the eleven year-old, but you need to explain yourself, Potter," She smiled at her raven haired son.

"It's the first Christmas I can actually enjoy with all of you. No fear of Tom, no prophecy, and I'm finally back where I belong. It's already my best Christmas ever," He was rewarded with a huge smile and a bone crushing hug from Mrs. Weasley, and when she finally released him, she had tears sparkling in her eyes. Harry quickly kissed her cheek and sat back down to devour his breakfast. She turned her attention to Lily, who was tearing through a plate of eggs with reckless abandon.

"Alright dear, stand up and let me get a good look at my granddaughter," Molly looked Lily up and down with a trained eye, appraising her condition, "You are a spitting image of Harry, did you know that?"

"That's the strange thing, she didn't look like that when we found her, she had brown hair and blue eyes, but after two years, she looked exactly like Harry. Nothing we found could explain it," Ginny glanced up from her breakfast for long enough to explain. And to catch the subtle sparkle in Hermione's eyes, she could always tell when someone wasn't giving her all the information, "'Mione, you don't need to go find out why, we're happy not knowing," Ginny knew it wouldn't stop her, but oh well.

"You even need to be fed up like he did. Luckily I know just what to do," She smiled and disappeared into the kitchen.

"W-What's she gonna do to me?" She slipped into Harry's lap and buried herself in his chest, her heart was pounding.

"Don't worry, she's just going to cook huge amounts of the best food you've ever had and feed it to you three meals a day until you leave the house," Harry spoke softly into her ear, stroking her raven hair as it flowed down her back. Slowly, she relaxed, but she remained tucked against Harry's chest. He smiled softly, happy to just hold his little girl in his arms. It was 20 minutes before Ron finally demanded that it was time for presents. Harry allowed Lily to slip away and run after her gangly Uncle to the living room.

The living room had been rearranged to make room for what Harry could only assume was a magnificently decorated tree. He could not tell for sure, seeing as the mountain of presents concealed most of it. The Weasley family had grown in 9 years, and had come into a fair bit of money; Harry had made sure of it. It seemed that, in typical Weasley fashion, they were all spending it on each other. However nothing compared to the group of stacks of presents all wrapped in gold paper, with an elegant nametag sitting on each pile. Ron's mouth fell open as he took in the sight, "Wow. You were serious when you said 10 years' worth of presents," He reached out and touched his stack, making sure it wouldn't disappear. Harry sat down on the couch, watching the others prepare to rip paper. Ginny flopped down on his lap and he wrapped his arms around her.

"I hope that Lily's okay with not getting anything from them, I mean, we did show up unannounced on Christmas Eve," Ginny said watching her as she sat next to Ron, listening to the time honored traditions of presents in the Weasley household. She looked up at Harry and he simply smiled and winked. She chuckled and snuggled up against him. They began handing out presents, one person handing out their gifts to all the others, starting with the Molly and Arthur. Molly went down the line handing out presents as Arthur tossed them to her. She reached Lily and bit her lip.

"I'm sorry dear, we di-," she began, but Arthur interrupted her.

"Here's one for her, Molly, it's fine," He sounded slightly confused, but he lobbed the package to her anyways. Its wrapping was identical to the others. She looked quickly at Harry, who only winked. She smiled to herself. As her children tore in to their gifts, she whispered to Arthur about what had happened. Sure enough, every stack now had a new, identical package for Lily.

Lily pulled the package open as fast as she could, trying to match Ron's speed and skill, but she quickly became tangled in the crumpled paper. Ron looked down at her and laughed as he helped her open her very first Weasley jumper. She hugged him and grabbed it running off to show Harry. Ron couldn't help but grin. Mrs. Weasley, however, was frowning. Harry could pull off presents, that she knew, but she had no idea how he had managed to make a Weasley jumper, especially such a good one. He had always been a man of mystery.

Next were Bill and Fleur, who received a whispered warning about Lily's gift as they gathered their presents. They had decided to do Egyptian style gifts, little bracelets for the girls and small tablets for the guys, each with their name in hieroglyphics. They handed them out and were amazed that Lily's gift matched the rest. Bill shot Harry a curious look, and was met with an understanding smile. He turned to explain the gifts when Lily blurted out, "Oh, look, it says Lily!" She grabbed Ron's tablet and looked at it, "And yours says Ron, they have our names in them!" She jumped up and hugged Bill and Fleur.

"That was a really good guess Lily," Bill ruffled her hair affectionately.

"It wasn't a guess, I can read it. See," she pushed up Bill's sleeve, revealing a set of hieroglyphics on his bicep, "This says 'heart and soul', and it has half of the symbol for veela, and half of the symbol for human. That's actually really sweet," She pulled his sleeve down and bounded back to Ron's side, sitting back down and watching Charlie expectantly. Hermione, Bill, and Fleur all shot a look at Harry, who mouthed 'tomorrow'. Charlie was warned as well as he handed out his presents, each consisting of a dragon-hide jacket and a pair of muggle sunglasses. Once again, Lily's gift matched the rest. And so it continued until all that remained were the gold packages.

Harry and Ginny, wands out, artfully levitated the packages to their recipients. Starting with the oldest presents, they began. Molly had a set of charmed knitting needles, Arthur received a muggle mp3 player, Bill got a silver firefly charmed to let off a soft glow. Fleur received a picture of the four Tri-Wizard Tournament Champions with their arms around each other, smiling for Colin Creevy's camera. Charlie got an earring made to look like the head of a dragon. Percy got a heavy tome on old Wizarding law. The twins received a box of rare ingredients for various potions. Ron and Hermione each got a pendant in the shape of half a heart, which could be locked together. The gifts only increased in value, at one point Ron received a basket full of European chocolate, which he immediately dove into. Bill eventually pulled out a pair of glasses with hundreds of rotating lenses on it. "What's this Harry?"

"Curse glasses, put them on and look at anything enchanted," Bill did, and was amazed as the various lenses labeled the charms and wards, filtering and highlighting them on command.

"These are cool, where did you get them?"

"America," Harry said, his tone snubbing out any further questions. He examined the growing stack of books around Hermione, the candy and Quidditch stuff in front of Ron, and various other themes in peoples' gifts. As the present dwindled, the questions came faster. Harry whispered to Ginny, "I don't remember us going this obscure, do you?" Her response was cut off by Charlie, who was holding up a choker necklace with to dragons intertwined on the throat.

"Is this some kind of joke? Some dig at me and Talia?"

"No, it's a Dragon empathy necklace; you wear it, and you can understand them, speak to them as it were," Harry explained and Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Oh, wow," Charlie took a long look at his feet, however all conversation ceased when Hermione squealed. She was holding a stack of brown leather books, each was filled to the margins with Harry's writing.

"Harry, what is all this?" She excitedly flipped through the first one, pouring over the contents.

"Those are the condensed version of my journals from our travels. Everything I learned that I thought you would be interested in, I compiled for you in those books," He had actually left out a fair bit, but it was all stuff Hermione would never need. He had also been careful to leave everything strictly out of context.

After the Weasley family had cleaned up the chaos from presents and all showered and dressed, the real party started. People would be in and out of the house all day bearing Christmas wishes. Members of the Order, Ministry people, and school friends all made sure to stop by for some delicious food and good company. Harry was simply enjoying being in the middle of everything. He had already seen tons of his old Hogwarts friends, including Neville (now Professor Longbottom), Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan, and Lavender Brown. He was now leaning against the wall watching Lily and Victoire run about in the crowd. Victoire was only a year younger than Lily, and the two had hit it off immediately. He glanced at the door as it was forced open against the howling winter wind. Professor McGonagall stepped inside, letting the door slam behind her. Harry watched as she made her way through the crowd to him, speaking briefly to several guests. "Hello, Mr. Potter, I trust you are well?" She finally made it to him and she stood straight-backed next to him.

"Better than, Professor, it's good to be back," He smiled, knowing she wouldn't be able to hold her stern exterior.

"Oh, Harry, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Minerva?"

"Old habits, I guess,"

"Of course, I'm very glad you enrolled Lily at Hogwarts, but are you sure you want her to be listed as Lily Evans, not Lily Potter?"

"Yes, and before you say I'm trying to hide my daughter, I have no plans of keeping that a secret. I just think it would be better if it wasn't announced to the whole school on her first day,"

"No, I understand Harry, you're a wonderful father for the girl, but it would be hard to be Harry Potter's child at Hogwarts,"

"Thank you, Minerva," He grinned inwardly, happy that the Headmistress agreed with him.

"Now Harry, have you given any thought to my other offer?" Her tone was rather pointed, and Harry knew she wouldn't want him to refuse.

"I have, and I would be honored to accept," Of course, she really never had to worry.

"Excellent," She smiled a rare smile before returning to the crowd.

Remus Lupin appeared on the lane to the Burrow with a pop. Clutching his hand was his son, Teddy. Not too far from them his wife, Nymphadora Tonks had landed in a heap. He sighed and hurried over to help her up. Her clumsiness had only gotten worse after the loss of her parents, Ted and Andromeda, during the Final Battle. His mobility wasn't perfect either, as he walked with a limp from a vicious cutting curse to the leg. He escorted her through into the Burrow, which was, as usual, warm and vibrant. He slung their coats on the rack and watched two little girls raced up to Teddy. He recognized Victoire, but the black-haired one he had never seen before. He assumed it was just some Ministry official's kid, and only half watched the trio as he struck up a conversation with a uniformed Auror. Teddy stuck out his hand to the second girl, introducing himself. "Hi! I'm Teddy. Teddy Lupin," He had his mother's bubbly personality. The girl clasped his hand firmly and shook it.

"I'm Lily Potter, nice to meet you," She released his hand and Remus' head whipped towards her, taking in the hair and the brilliant green eyes. He immediately scanned the room, searching for a man with messy black hair. He found him standing by the food table, speaking to Ron and several other Aurors, and immediately bounded through the crowd, wrapping him in a hug.

"Really? You got both the Carrows to confess? How did y- ack!" Harry was surprised as Lupin's werewolf strength allowed him to lift Harry off the ground, "Remus!" He wrapped his arms around the grizzled old wolf. Remus set him down, moving his hands to Harry's shoulders as Tonks and the children ran over after him.

"Wotcher, Harry," Tonks smiled brightly and gave him a quick hug. Lily slid to a stop next to Harry, looking up at Remus. She pulled at Harry's shirt and he looked down at her.

"Dad? Who's that?" She pointed at Remus.

"That's Remus Lupin, one of my dad's best friends,"

"Wait, you're _the_ Remus Lupin? Like Moony? Like the last Marauder?" She looked up at Remus in awe.

"Daddy, what's a Marauder?" Teddy looked at Remus, who began to say something when Lily grabbed Teddy's sleeve.

"The Marauders were a group of pranksters at Hogwarts. They were notri-, uh, notorious, for their pranks. It was my grandpa James, your Dad, and Sirius Black," She dragged Teddy away, regaling him with tales of the Marauders' conquests.

"You know, I was trying to keep that from him as long as possible," Remus laughed and Harry shrugged.

"Hey, I thought it was important for her to know her heritage,"

"Heritage, hah! But seriously, _dad_, what's up?" Remus nodded to where Lily had disappeared.

"She's adopted, but yeah, that's my daughter. I really do love her," He smiled softly.

"I know the feeling, cub," Remus patted his shoulder.

"Cub? I'm 26, you know," He punched Remus in the arm. They continued to catch up until Ginny came over and pulled Harry's arm around her shoulders.

"Ah, hello Miss Weasley," Remus smiled at the pair.

"I'm sorry, who?" Ginny feigned confusion and looked over her shoulder. Harry held up his left hand and tapped the ring finger.

"Oh, excuse me, Mrs. Potter," Remus let the silly grin spread across his face, "So I guess there really is a curse, huh," He chuckled to himself.

"I think I agree with Dad on this one, it's really a blessing," He kissed Ginny's flaming red hair, inhaling her wonderful scent. They all heard a crash from the kitchen, and familiar voices swear.

"I should probably go make sure my wife is okay," Lupin hugged Harry and ducked back into the crowd. Harry slid down onto the couch and Ginny sprawled out, her head resting in his lap. They sat and simply took in the atmosphere, both glad that their journey was over.

It was late evening and the crowd was thinning when the door was flung open again, revealing two figures draped in MoM cloaks. Harry hopped to his feet and bounded over to them. "Minister Shacklebolt, Director Bones-Shacklebolt, how are you?" He smirked, relishing his ability to make two of the most powerful people in England blush.

"Harry, that's supposed to be a secret, especially with Molly around," Kingsley glared at him, but Amelia chuckled.

"Of course, but really, as far as secrets go, between the three of us, that's nothing major," Harry winked mischievously, "But what brings you here? Business or pleasure?"

"A little bit of both I suppose, we need to speak with you, your wife, and Auror Weasley, it's fairly urgent," Director Bones adopted a business face.

"And we would never pass up Molly's cooking," Kingsley added. Harry nodded, and led them into the kitchen, seating them around the table. They were joined shortly by Ron and Ginny.

"Merry Christmas, boss, what brings you here today?" Ron slid into a chair, and Ginny moved to stand behind Harry, resting her hands on his shoulders.

"We may have a situation, Auror Weasley," Kingsley's tone made Ron snap into Auror mode, he sat up straighter and pulled on a serious face. Hermione had joined them, sitting next to Ron.

"Ah, Mrs. Weasley, I do believe your expertise would be useful here, you see, we conducted a routine raid of a source of some minor Dark Magic yesterday, it had been mostly cleaned out, but we found a few things of interest, namely these," Kingsley pulled out a large piece of parchment covered in runes and several notebooks filled with Arithmancy equations and formulas. Hermione picked up the books, flipping through them.

"This is very advanced stuff Minister, these are all Magical Potential Equations, and those runes are Germanic summoning and harnessing runes," She furrowed her brow, running over the equations in her head. Harry reached over and plucked the book out of her hands. Ginny was looking at the rune chart.

"Harry, do you recognize this? Because it looks like…" Ginny sounded worried.

"It doesn't just look like, it is, look at this," Harry showed her a mark on the inside cover, detailing a dragon and a serpent intertwined around a sword, making her gasp.

"But I thought…" She trailed off, now looking genuinely afraid.

"So did I, love, so did I," Harry sighed, looking resigned.

"What? What is it?" Hermione glared at them, both for keeping secrets and for knowing something she didn't.

"It's a Dark ritual designed to increase the performer's raw magical power, however it has never been successfully completed, but with these additions, I think it might," Harry shook his head slowly.

"And how do you know this?" Hermione asked, her tone accusing.

"We came across it on our travels," Ginny's tone made it obvious that that was all they would say.

"What's worse, is these books have the signature of a copying spell on them, which means whoever this person is, they still have these formulas," Harry spoke without emotion, sliding the book back to Kingsley, "I'm sorry King, but we've done what we can, best of luck," And with that, the two Potters dismissed themselves. The made their way to their room, sealing it tight when they were inside.

Ginny collapsed into bed, pulling Harry down next to her, tears beginning to flow down her face. "It was intentional Harry, he's coming for me, he's going to finish what he started, and he wants me to know it," Harry tried to pull her to his chest, but she pushed him away, one hand unconsciously tracing a long, curved scar that ran across her lower stomach. Harry kissed her softly, rubbing her shoulder gently as she cried.

"He won't get you Ginny, no one will ever harm you again, I swear it," He kissed her forehead, and then her lips, before shifting to her neck, slowly making his way across her collarbone, she shuddered at his touch, and slid a hand into his hair, but as he moved further south, she pushed him away again as painful memories raced across her mind.

"I'm sorry Harry, I just, I can't, not tonight, not after this," She shuddered at what Kingsley's discovery actually meant, only able to take solace in the love and compassion sparkling in her beloved's emerald eyes.

"Ginny, what are we going to tell them tomorrow?" Harry asked, dragging her out of her self-destructive train of thought. She sighed.

"The truth, I guess. I mean, not all of it, obviously, but enough to tide them over for a while," She bit her bottom lip, considering her options.

"Your family will accept what we tell them, it's Hermione I'm worried about,"

"She is too intuitive for her own good sometimes, but I think she'll leave us alone, the journals and our next couple surprises will keep them distracted for a while,"

"I suppose, I don't like keeping all this from them Ginny, but I'll do it because I love you," Harry was frowning, but he kissed her forehead.

"It's for their own good, and I love you too,"

"Is it really Ginny? Or is it for you? You can't keep this bottled up inside of you forever, it will tear you apart, trust me, I would know," It was at times like this that Ginny couldn't understand why Harry wanted her around. He was smart, handsome, powerful, and mature and wise beyond his years. He was a father for God's sake, and she was just a broken little girl who he had allowed to tag along on his grand adventures. She could never make him truly happy or give him what he really wanted, could she? Her deepest insecurities began to pour forth from the dark recesses of her mind, her inner demons taking the voice of her nightmares. Tom Riddle standing over her in the Chamber, telling her Harry would never come to save her, that she would never be good enough for him. The familiar tainted feeling bubbled up from the depths. She began to cry in earnest now, sobs wracking her body, and Harry pulled her tight to himself, pulling the covers over them, holding her until she drifted off, and the sound of his heartbeat guarded her from her nightmares. As she closed her eyes she felt his warm breath tickle her ear.

"I love you, Ginny Potter, with my whole heart and soul. I love everything you are, everything you have become. You are amazing and I will never let you go," She smiled softly into his chest, knowing he meant every word of it.

**A/N: Okay, so in this chapter, the story Harry and Ginny are telling their family begins to diverge from the actual story, as we begin to learn that their journey was not what they make it out to be, and they aren't as happy as they act. The next chapter will be the story telling, and it will be pretty emotional. As always, thanks for reading, and please review so that this story is as good as it can possibly be. And of course, the Potterverse belongs, in its entirety, to JK Rowling.**


	4. Half-Truths Abound

Vanishing Act

Ch.4- Half-Truths Abound

**A/N: So begins the long and convoluted tale of the Potters' self-imposed exile. This chapter may be a little rambling in parts, but I wanted to explain where Harry and Ginny's powers come from, and why they travelled the world, as well as setting the groundwork for later developments. I hope you enjoy!**

Ginny awoke with a start, trying to sit upright but only getting tangled in Harry's arms. She groaned, dreading what awaited her downstairs. Her family and the Lupins would be anxiously awaiting the retelling of the past nine years. As she lay there, she felt Harry's arms shift, pulling her closer. "We totally forgot to unseal the room last night, Lily's gonna be pissed,"

"Not as pissed as Mum, especially since they won't think we were just talking," Harry groaned, realizing her implications.

"It's going to be a long day, isn't it?" He was only half joking. The story they were going to tell, as abridged as it was, was still going to be emotionally taxing. He reluctantly released Ginny and dragged himself out of bed. He had a slight headache, but it was nothing compared to the head-splitting migraines he had had after the Final Battle as the echo of Tom Riddle had faded away. He slowly let out a long breath. He quickly changed and cast a quick shower charm. It had nothing on real water, but the sooner they started, the sooner they would finish. As Ginny dressed, Harry unsealed the room, and they trudged down to breakfast. Hermione was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee when they entered and she gave them an appraising eye.

"You guys look terrible, is everything alright?"

"It's fine, just going to be a rough day is all," Harry responded, in typical Harry fashion. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I've been sitting here to warn you, they're all already in the living room, waiting to leap on you as soon as you show. I don't want to know what you were doing behind those wards, but they did prevent them from having you up two hours ago," She sighed and shook her head, gesturing to the door, "Oh, and Lily and Victoire are with Tonks and Teddy having a grand old time, we figured it would be best to keep them out of our hair," Hermione said, offhand. But Ginny could see the panic flash in Harry's eyes. He had only rarely let the girl out of sight, and when he did, he had a reason. She squeezed his hand, hoping to ease a little of the tension in him. Hermione ushered them into the living room and sat them down on front of the crowd of people, every eye fixing on them expectantly. Harry took a deep breath.

"Where should we start?" He looked at them; his face had turned into a mask, his Occlumency shields up. She knew that she had done so as well, taking comfort in the barriers protecting her mind.

"How about the beginning Harry," Charlie snapped a little and did not look very happy with either of them.

"Ok then, well, after we left you all at Hogwarts, we went and rented a room at the Leaky Cauldron for about a week, under an alias of course, so that we could get ourselves and our gear in order," This was not entirely true, they had not stayed at the Leaky, but rather one of the smaller Potter Manors, which had become Harry's on his seventeenth birthday.

"We got some gold from Harry's vault, and used it to buy travelling cloaks, clothes, potions, wand holsters, magical storage, and etcetera. When we had it all together, we left England. I more or less coerced Harry into making our first stop Paris," Ginny seamlessly took over the story.

"Of course, she thought we would spend all day wandering the monuments and museums and living like some sappy romance novel. I had other plans. We met with Madame Marie, one of the greatest Transfiguration Masters in the world. Professor McGonagall is one of the few that can best her," Harry spoke again, his voice sounding happier than he felt.

"Then why didn't you go to Professor McGonagall?" Hermione questioned. As Harry expected, her questions would be dangerous. If the real story got forced out, Ginny's sanity would be at risk, so while Harry didn't like it, he helped her conceal it from the people loved them.

"Marie is more, discreet, per say," Ginny said quickly, "She taught us some advanced Transfiguration, a fair bit of it designed to be of use in a fight. We studied in some other disciplines as well," Molly did not look happy when Ginny mentioned fighting.

"That is to say, you became Animagi, correct?" Hermione shot them a look, which Ginny returned with a frigid glare.

"Yes, we did," Harry wouldn't outright lie to them if they asked him a question.

"What are your forms?" Hermione leaned forward slightly.

"I am a panther, Ginny is a lioness, Lily is a lynx," Harry spoke tersely, ending Hermione's questioning," Once we were done, we moved east, to Germany,"

"But Harry, Germany is full of the Dark Arts," Hermione interjected.

"Enough Hermione, you're conjecturing about things you don't understand. Western Germany is fine, and Berlin is one of the most beautiful magical cities in the world," Harry let his mask slip a bit, revealing his frustration. Hermione watched him closely, as if studying his every move, "Anyways, we journeyed through Germany, which is the birthplace of the Germanic tradition of magic. While most of it is at least Gray, the magic is very useful. We also learned swordsmanship and I learned a little about magical smithing. The German goblins are some of the greatest smiths in the world. Eventually we did work our way into East Germany, and yes it is worse than the West, but not bad by any stretch. It was there that we met our travelling companion and mentor, Gregor. He was our guide to Eastern Europe really. We saw a lot of Europe in that first year and a half before we had a bad run-in with some bandits in Romania. Both of us got pretty beat up, and we realized two things. Actually, we each realized one thing, and shared it with the other,"

"I realized that to keep up with Harry, I had to be a better fighter and witch, and for us to survive, we both had to get stronger," Ginny had a mix of satisfaction and determination in her voice.

"And I realized what Ginny meant to me, and asked her to marry me, and she said yes,"

"Of course I did, it was dream since I was five years old, to marry Harry Potter and run away to journey the world with him," Her smile became genuine for a moment and she kissed Harry's cheek,"

"I thought your dream was to marry Harry Potter and have a big, beautiful wedding and feel like a princess and then have lots of kids and live a nice, quiet life," Molly frowned and Ginny gave her a sad smile.

"I'm sorry Mum, I just knew that that was what you wanted, and I was your only daughter, so I was going to let you have your big wedding and do it all fancy and white, because, the way I saw it, I ended up with Harry, so I was still getting the better deal," She looked at her feet and Harry chuckled. Ginny had always been one to get what she wanted.

"Of course, but what about the children? You can't really raise a child right while gallivanting all across the globe, now can you? Now that you're back, you _are_ going to finally settle down and have children of your own, right?" Molly had intended it to be pointed, but she couldn't have predicted the effects of her words. When she had asked about the wedding, Ginny's mask had cracked, but now it shattered. Ginny slumped down in her seat, tears pouring down her face. Harry pulled her close and watched the rest of the room, her head buried in his chest. His eyes, which usually sparkled, were now illuminated as if a fire was lit behind them. He whispered something into her ear, and she slowly brought herself back under control.

"Where were we? Oh yes, the wedding. We had it at villa in Spain, on the coast. It was us, an official, and Greg as our witness. It was simple, but beautiful. Short, but meaningful. It was everything either of us wanted it to be. Our honeymoon was a tour of Spain, this time taking in all the pleasures and the sights, not the magic. It was nice, for a while, but we both wanted to keep learning. We had just scratched the surface of magic, and there was so much more out there. We returned to Eastern Europe, moving farther south and east. We saw Belarus, the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Belgium, and many other places," Harry had begun to speak faster, with a touch of venom.

"Romania? Why didn't you stop and see Charlie? Even if it was just to let us know you were alive," Hermione asked

"Charlie, I release you from your vow to me, you may speak of it to your family," Harry looked Charlie in the eyes, and a weight seemed to rise from his shoulders. He turned and addressed his family.

"They did come and see me, it was a bad time of year and the dragons were really acting up. We thought we were going to have to start actually inflicting damage to control them, when Harry and Ginny just show up, and Harry starts talking to the dragons, calming them down. Turns out his parseltongue also works on dragons. They stayed for a couple days, met Talia, and then swore me to secrecy, before disappearing into the mountains again," He sat back, looking significantly less annoyed. The rest of the family was a little stunned. Ginny just launched back into the story.

"We were in Belarus the second time when we came across the village where Lily and her father were. Harry rescued her and told me he wanted to adopt her. I didn't agree. We argued about it, and I made some dumb choices. Harry forgave me though, and we decided it was time for us to leave the Germanic sphere of influence. We moved on to the next, most logical, region. Italy and Greece, which are really quite the yin to Germany's yang," Ginny took a breath, steadying herself, and Harry took over again.

"We learned huge amounts about light magic in Italy. People always associate rituals and blood magic with the Dark Arts, but Light magic has the same amount, if not more. Of course, they are much less nefarious, and not incredibly taxing on the soul, but they're there. Not to mention the fact that Italian dueling is an art form. Germanic fighting is all about blasting huge curses and overwhelming your opponent so you can kill them, but the Italians, and originally the Romans, were all about balancing offense and defense, agility and power. The style was born in the Coliseums (They had magical gladiators as well, you know) and adapted from there. They dodge as much as they block, and are incredibly adept at disabling instead of killing. Then there were the Centurion Mages. Mighty battle mages trained to fight in the ranks of the Legions. They specialized in using magic to rip down walls and shred ranks of enemies, as well as defending their own forces with shields and walls. The Greeks were incredible scholars in all subjects, and this included magic. Some of their runes and Arithmancy work is incredible. It dissects the very essence of magic, turning it into equations. While their ability to cast magic was limited, they were unmatched as artificers, enchanters, alchemists, and engineers. The magic laced into their weapons, tools, buildings, and everyday objects is intricate on a level beyond even today's items. After learning what we could there, we continued around the Mediterranean, into the Middle East. The Middle East has been a crossroads for magic as much as it was for muggle ideas. The Arabic tradition has been around since the dawn of man, but it has absorbed and melded European, African, and Asiatic magical tradition into something unique. They are talented at illusion and conjuration, and the trade in enchanted items, rare ingredients, and other magical goods is huge. It is also the best place to find a familiar. Or familiars. Incredible place really. We learned African magic from a caravan of traders who we travelled with from Arabia to Egypt," Harry stopped to summon a drink and allowed their audience to digest the story, after they seemed to break from their daze, Ginny continued for him.

"Egyptian magic, as Bill can attest to, is neither Dark nor Light, it is its own special shade of gray. It is vicious and vengeful, designed to instill fear and allow control for the Pharaoh and his priests. While the priests had some direct casting ability, they were masters of rune circles, rituals, wards, and various chanted curses. They Egyptian rune alphabet is still largely a mystery, and many tombs remain sealed tight and warded beyond belief. We learned as much as we could about sealing, warding, runes, and curse-breaking before moving on. We also stopped and saw the Pyramids and such, of course," Ginny saw Bill's disappointment that they hadn't stopped to see him. She gave him a sad smile while Harry continued in the background.

"After Egypt, we took the jump to Asia. The Asian magical traditions are some of the oldest and greatest in the world. Chinese sorcerers and monks have been doing powerful magic since before Europeans were even levitating rocks. Not to mention Chinese magical culture is incredible. It is mostly uninfluenced by the Western world. Ginny and Lily and I eventually found ourselves in a monastery in central China. The monks were masters of elemental magic. No complex incantations, no wands, just the elements and raw magical energy. Magic at its most pure. The wildest part of Chinese magic is the massive dichotomy between the Confucian sorcerers and the Taoist monks. The monks we trained with didn't use anything precise or formulaic. Actually, muggle Tai Chi is based off of the way the monks harness their magic. It is fluid and imprecise, put also very powerful. The sorcerers, on the other hand, are rigid and precise, focused on order and balance, attempting to control and direct their magic. They use staves and potions, bombs and fireworks to accentuate their powers, which are complex and require complex runes and equations. We learned this form from an ancient sorcerer in the mountains who wished to remove himself from the violence that has forever strangled the Order of Sorcerers. After we had learned what we could from him, we made our way to Japan. Japan's magical tradition is closely intertwined with its warrior tradition. Most magical families trained their offspring in the way of the warrior, as Samurai. Other magical children, ones born to commoners or peasants, were either adopted by nobles are whisked away to become Ninja, warriors of shadow. Even as these traditions fell to the wayside in muggle Japan, the magical families held them tight, training themselves as their ancestors did. In Japan, we were trained by one of the Samurai Grand Masters. Samurai fighting styles emphasize using weapons and magic simultaneously, in harmony. It is very physical and very effective. However, the Samurai styles cannot even touch the way of the Ninja. It was after we finished our Samurai training that we were invited to train in a Ninja dojo high in the mountains. The training is very secretive, and all I can say is that they are called Shadow Warriors for a reason," Harry grinned. His training in Japan had been one of the most exhilarating times of his life. He was constantly challenged to adapt and evolve to defeat his opponents, to make use of every tool at his disposal. He had learned why so few could best a Ninja in battle.

"Harry loved the damn Ninjas, watched to many muggle action movies I think. Of course he completely forgot to mention the magic of the Imperial court. It is magic based on meditation and Zen, used for things that are not fighting, like healing and gardening," Ginny loved the Ninjas as much as Harry did, but she didn't want her family to think she had become some psycho assassin, "From Japan, we continued east, starting in South America, learning about the Incas and Aztecs. They were masters of blood magic, but not much else. In North America, we learned about both Native American magics, which are based on totems and animal spirits, and American 'Modern Magic', which is really just the combination of magic with muggle technology. We spent some time there, enjoying the insanity of American culture before returning to Europe. We met up with Greg again in Russia. If Germanic magic was Dark, than Russian magic is pitch black. We didn't try to learn much, but we did try to understand it and how it worked, and also the consequences and counters for it,"

"Why on earth would you do that? Dark Magic will suck you in, you'll both go Dark!" Ron looked indignant and a little terrified.

"Not when you don't use it, and when you have seen what it does to those who wield it and what it drives them to do to others. You forget that my daughter was orphaned by Dark Magic, the same way I was. I will never allow it to touch my soul or Ginny's, and I sure as hell won't let it touch Lily," Harry spat at Ron. Ginny placed a calming hand on his shoulder. He needed to be in control, because this next bit was the hard part.

"Once we had learned all we could bear in Russia, we travelled south. We had learned in our travels that there is only one way to really test your abilities. You have to fight. Not just training, but real, no holds barred fighting. That and Harry's whole 'saving people thing' has kinda rubbed off on me," Ginny let out a small laugh while bracing herself.

"You what? You are a woman and a mother! It is not your place to go and try to get yourself killed for other people! It is bad enough that Harry does it, he shouldn't drag you into it!" Molly shouted, but Ginny didn't yield.

"Mum, we were fighting petty scum, not Dark Lords," That was pretty much a total lie, "and I am not a mother! Lily is _not_ my child! I love her like she is, but she isn't mine!" Ginny could feel the pain pulsing, and she was barely able to push it down, "And Harry didn't drag me into anything. It was my idea. I wanted to prove myself. To him, to the world, to myself. It was my idea, and I forced him to do it. I told him I was going, and he could come with me or not. He had no choice," Ginny spoke quietly, and Harry ran a hand down her back, stroking her hair.

"So what happened after that?" Fred and George spoke in unison, obviously riveted by the story.

"We fought some more, and then I practically dragged Ginny to the Caribbean, far away from it all. We vacationed; family bonded, learned Voodoo, and just sat back and relaxed. We eventually returned to Italy, but we settled down, our learning became more study and less training. I think we were beginning to realize that we had been gone long enough. We had one last plan to set in motion before we returned, and when it was done, we packed up and came home. We stopped by Potter Manor and left our things, and I took Lily to Hogwarts to register for next year while Ginny came here," Harry finished, and he rose, supporting Ginny with his arm, and walked out of the room. Only Hermione followed them.

"Harry, Harry wait!"

"What Hermione?"

"That's not everything, I can tell!"

"No, Hermione, It's not," Before she could respond, they were gone into the night.

Harry had deposited Ginny in bed and sent Dobby and Kreacher to collect their things from the Burrow. He himself went to collect Lily.

When the Floo spat him out at Grimmauld Place, he was surprised to find it no longer gloomy and dark, but rather quite cozy and inviting. He found Tonks and the kids in the living room, all asleep. He woke Tonks telling her he was picking up Lily, and scooped up her sleeping form. He knew that Floo travel would wake her, but there wasn't really a better option. He held her tight as they whirled through the Floo Network. When they arrived at Potter Manor, Lily was awake and glaring at him. He set her down in the warm kitchen and summoned to hot chocolates.

"Sorry I woke you, dear," He kissed her head, but she didn't respond. She was sitting stiffly in the chair looking royally pissed.

"It's fine," She mumbled.

"No it's not, what's wrong? Is this about last night?" Harry was concerned now.

"No, last night I stayed in Victoire's room. She, Teddy, and I had a sleepover. It was fun,"

"That's good. We didn't mean to lock you out; Ginny just had a rough night,"

"I know. Daddy, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Lils,"

"How come I've never had a sleepover?" She sounded sad.

"I don't know, Lils, I just…" Harry suddenly felt very guilty.

"Or been to a toy store? Or a candy store? Or even a friend's house? How come I've never even had friends? How come we've never spent a year in the same place? How come I'm different from everyone else?" Lily's voice rapidly went from sad to angry, and each accusation seemed to punch a hole in Harry's heart. It was made all the worse by the fact that they were true. Every single one. He slid down in his chair as she began to scream, "Why aren't we normal Daddy? Why does everyone look at me funny when I tell them my name? You wouldn't let me have friends! You dragged me all over! You don't care about me! If you did, you would have been normal! You would have let me be normal! You just want me to end up a freak like you! It's all your fault! I hate you, Daddy!" She screamed, storming away crying. Ginny had watched the exchange from the darkened doorframe. She knew what Lily was going through. At one point in every little girl's life, they were forced to realize that their father wasn't perfect. For her, it had been her first year at Hogwarts. She had been angry that her father hadn't saved her like he should have. Lily was angry because she had felt like Harry had never given her anything. And while it was true that Harry hadn't given her toys or opportunities to make friends, he had given her so much more. Ginny approached Harry and slid into his lap, twisting so she could look him in the face.

"Harry, give her a couple days, she'll come around, she just needs some space," She lifted his chin with a finger and looked into his eyes. They looked… hollow.

"What did I do wrong, Gin? My own daughter thinks I'm a freak," He sounded weak and afraid, like the small eleven year-old boy that had been beaten by his own family for being a freak. Her heart shattered for him.

"She was mad, love, she said things she didn't mean. I'll talk to her tomorrow and she'll be fine, OK?" She stroked his cheek and he choked out a strangled 'OK'. She helped him to their bedroom and changed him into his pajamas. She also changed and snuggled close to him, clinging to him. His arms wrapped around her slowly, and he squeezed her tight. It was almost painful for her, but she let him. It had been a hard day for him. He hated having to lie to people, especially his family, and now his own daughter had practically torn open the wounds from his childhood. And Ginny knew that Harry was blaming it all on himself.

**A/N: Alright, this chapter seems pretty gloom and doom, but it'll start to get better, I promise. The Weasleys are going to start accepting Harry and Ginny back, and they will begin to re-immerse themselves in society. I know Harry and Ginny's story is really long winded, but it **_**is**_** nine years of stuff, and I wanted to set the groundwork for the different Magical Traditions, which will play a role later on. As always, please review so I can make this story the best it can be, and remember that Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, not me. Thanks!**


	5. The New (Old) Normal

Vanishing Act

Ch.5- The New (Old) Normal

**A/N: Please, please, please don't be mad at me for taking so long to post this. I didn't give up on this, matter of fact, I finished it. Twice. And then I had a pair of epiphanies about where I want it to go, and it changed from about 10 planned chapters to at least 3 main storylines. So yeah, finally picking things up again now. Things start to get better (and worse) this chapter, and Harry and Ginny start to show off just how much they've learned and grown. The last chapter was a little boring, I'm sorry; I needed to set the background for my take on JKR's Magical World, which I don't own by the way, and for the story. I actually did research for the last chapter. I know, I'm so dedicated. Also, I'm writing new ideas including a one-shot of the Potters' time with the ninjas. Also, for those of you who think that this story is a rip-off of insert fanfic here, I can't promise there won't be similarities, but it's going to be its own thing. Anyways, enough babbling, enjoy, please and thank you.**

Harry was sitting with his head slumped on the kitchen table, a cup of coffee, which may or may not have had some firewhiskey in it, was sitting empty by his head. He did not know how long he had been sitting there when a small voice interrupted his brooding, "Daddy?" Harry looked up at Lily, who was sitting across from him, looking at her feet.

"Yes love?" Harry stared at her sadly, no matter how much she yelled at him, she could never make him mad for long. When she was sad, he would melt and do whatever he could to make her happy.

"I'm sorry daddy, I didn't mean what I said when I yelled at you last night, I don't think you're a bad daddy, please don't leave, please still love me daddy," She sounded hurt and a little desperate, and Harry could feel his heart crack. He stood and pulled her close, whispering into her ear.

"Of course I still love you Lily, I may get angry or upset with you, but I will always love you, and I will never leave you. You will always have me and Ginny, neither of us will ever leave, I promise," He squeezed her and let her go, kissing her head quickly, "But you were right Lily, I was so concerned with your safety that I never really considered your happiness, I'm going to change that. Starting today, we're going to do all the fun things we missed!" He grinned, and she hugged him tight.

"I _was _happy, dad, I had fun, even if it wasn't normal kid fun," Harry smiled genuinely at his daughter, who possessed 100% of his heart. Of course Ginny had 100% of it too, but that didn't matter, really, it was a technicality.

"Well, we have 8 months to catch up on the normal kid stuff, so what do you want to do?" He laughed as she frowned, obviously trying to make what she considered a very difficult decision, but she was interrupted by Harry's other favorite woman.

"I hope she wants to go hang out with Teddy and Victoire and Hermione's kid, because we've been invited over to Ron and Hermione's for the day, and Hermione is not one to let us turn down an invitation," Harry chuckled and Lily crossed her arms, Harry ruffled her hair.

"Ok, Lils, why don't you get my broom and you can go fly when we get there, I'm sure Weasley Manor has a Quidditch pitch," Lily perked up at this idea, but Ginny put her hands on her hips.

"Harry, that is a very fast broom, and she is eleven, it isn't safe for her," she had instantly shifted into what Harry and Lily called 'Molly Mode' behind her back.

"But Ginny..." Lily pleaded, but Harry placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Ginny, love, you were flying at night with no supervision when you were six," Ginny attempted to huff, but ended up smiling and laughing. Harry and Lily high-fived and, without further ado, they departed for Weasley Manor.

Ron Weasley had done remarkably well for himself after the War; he had played 3 years of pro Quidditch for the Chudley Cannons, winning them two World Cups as one of the best keepers to play the sport before settling down with his wife and joining the Auror Corps. He was now one of their best Senior Field Agents. His success was represented in Weasley Manor, which sat on hill, surrounded by a large moat of grass which was bordered by forest. There were a lake and a Quidditch pitch in the back and the house itself was a light orange brick with white marble trim. It was very beautiful and very Ron and Hermione. Harry, Ginny, and Lily arrived at the base of the cobbled lane that led up to the Manor and Lily immediately shot off into the sky, joining five other child-sized specks in the sky. Harry and Ginny bounded up to the door, and it was pulled open to reveal a house elf dressed in orange livery. "Hermione has a house elf, well I'd never have guessed," Ginny laughed.

"They like to work, I'll have you know," Hermione huffed as she ushered them inside. Harry shot Ginny a look and they both snorted.

"That sounds familiar Hermione, but I just can't figure it out," Harry was holding in laughter.

"Yeah, I know, it's almost like someone told you that every time you brought up SPEW in school," Ginny feigned a puzzled look, and they both broke out in laughter. Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled. She ushered the couple into the brightly lit entry hall and led them into a grand, open ballroom, with one wall entirely glass and the other three the same pastel orange as the exterior. On one wall was a large Weasley crest and on the opposite wall was an even larger blackboard, which held a list of what appeared to be standings, composed of all of the Weasley children's names. In the center of the room was what any adequately accomplished wizard would recognize as a dueling mat, a large rectangle boxed in by protective wards. Assembled outside of it was a majority of the Weasley clan.

"You know, when Hermione said 'a nice lunch and time to catch up and chat', I didn't take it to mean being escorted into a room full of my wife's older brothers and a dueling stage," Harry's voice possessed a cool confidence and he kept an easy smirk on his face. The brothers grinned and Ron bounced to his feet.

"Well, some of us want to see just how much you learned on your little trip," He stepped into the box, causing his name to highlight on the board.

"Though a chance to hex the man who ran off with our sister doesn't hurt matters," Charlie added, barely masking his aggression in his tone. Harry gave another calm grin, and squeezed Ginny's hand when he felt her jaw clench and her muscles tighten.

"Alright then, let's see who's got the skills and the balls to take 'the Chosen One'," With an air of supreme confidence, Harry stepped into the box across from Ron. The wards sprung up and a metallic clank signified the beginning of the duel. Harry twirled his wand deftly between his fingers, assessing Ron's stance. Harry didn't need the wand, per say, but he liked the warmth of the holly wood in his hand, and he felt no need to give out all his tricks just yet. Ron had adapted a boxer's stance with his wand in his back hand. It was standard Auror technique, and Harry knew it well. He had written the manual after all. Ron's name was at the top of the board, however, indicating that he was the best of the brothers with a 78% win rate.

Ron began to circle Harry, keeping their eyes locked and his center of gravity low. Like a flash, he whipped a rapid stunner at Harry, who, with inhuman speed, flicked the spell away. And it continued like that for several minutes, with Ron barraging Harry with spells, and Harry deflecting them with a graceful ease. Quickly, Harry launched his own stunner at Ron, who shielded it easily, but didn't notice the subtle ripple of air that followed it, slipping through Ron's shield and striking his wand. Harry casually launched another stunner and Ron flicked his wand to erect a shield. He got no response and could only watch as the stunner struck his chest. He fell to the sound of another bell, signifying Harry's victory. Harry's name had moved to the top of the board.

"What the hell was that?" Ron had been revived and was rubbing his chest as he gave Harry a confused look.

"That was you botching a shield spell, you clod," Fred joked, causing the Weasley men to laugh,

"Actually, that was a neat little Potter special; it prevents you from casting the last spell you used. We used it quite a lot when some fool started slinging AK's," Ginny's voice was calm, but her brothers watched her carefully.

"Where were you around people casting AK's?" Bill asked with unease in his voice.

"That's what happens when you follow Harry sodding Potter around, you almost die a lot," Charlie growled, leaping into the ring, causing the wards to box him and Harry in.

"Oh, lover boy's in trouble now, Charlie's dangerous when he gets pissed," a twin chuckled, and Hermione gasped, but Ginny looked singularly unconcerned. Dueling on emotion was useful for putting some extra oomph behind your spells, but in a duel against someone as talented as she knew Harry was, it would be a hindrance more than a help. That proved true in this case as well.

Charlie leapt forward viciously, his wand creating an emerald dragon made of flame which lunged across the room towards Harry, who flicked his wrist and broke the dragon into five tongues of flame which he launched back at his adversary. Charlie consumed the oncoming flames with a massive wall of flame, which he sent coursing across the floor. The flame barrier overwhelmed Harry, obscuring him from sight, to several gasps, but it quickly began to turn and morph into a giant whirlwind of flame. Harry could be seen in its midst, standing on a chunk of rock, conducting the tornado towards Charlie, who began launching piercing, cutting, spearing, and whatever other kind of dangerous curses he could come up with. It was to no avail, as the firestorm simply absorbed the onslaught before Harry whipped his wand about himself, coiling the fire into a blazing whip and striking down, forcefully throwing Charlie against the wards, which he slumped against, unconscious. Another tick mark adorned Harry's name. The brothers hauled Charlie away, quickly enervating him and consoling (actually ribbing) him about his defeat. Next, however, was Bill, the eldest and likely the most powerful in raw values of the Weasley brothers. Not to mention that his worldly knowledge nullified one of Harry's advantages. This was only one advantage, however.

The start bell sounded for the third time that day and Bill quickly flicked out some simple curses, while also preparing some kind of rune system on the floor in front of him. It was an older style of hieroglyphics which was unknown to most everyone. Harry was not 'most everyone'. By the time Bill's circle of runes was complete, Harry had prepared, and as soon as it began to glow, Harry put it out of commission with a complex counter-curse. Bill recovered quickly, resorting to simpler single- or double-rune attacks and some nasty Egyptian magic, the likes of which would be fatal very quickly in a real duel, but in the arena, any spell save the Avada Kedavra that caused death simply left its target unconscious with a ghostly image of the spell's effects appearing where they stood. Harry was still casually standing at one end of the arena, but his face had grown serious and he deflected the curses with more urgency. After a particularly close call, Harry began returning fire with standard offensive curses. Bill pulled a pillar of rock from the floor, which he hid behind a quickly warded to absorb spells. Harry blew it up. The fight continued to rage, Bill and Harry trading spell for spell. Bill was sweating a little, but Harry looked fresh as a daisy. Bill finally managed to slip a Bludgeoning spell through Harry's defenses, tossing him to the floor. With a feral grin emphasized by his slightly wolfish visage, Bill leapt forward. Harry rolled away quickly and bounced to his feet. He grinned at Bill and relaxed his grip on his wand. Bill frowned, and then looked down. He had leapt right into the rune circle that Harry had been etching with his foot for the course of the duel. With a flick, Harry activated it and it sent a bolt of lightning coursing up through Bill's veins. Smoking slightly, he collapsed. The bell signified Harry's third victory.

Harry turned and looked at the three remaining brothers, waiting for his next challenge. He would be lying if he said that this was unexpected, but he hoped it would remain inside the arena. Percy looked at him with a calculating gaze before shaking his head.

"Unlike my dear brothers, I understand that sometimes the only way to win is not to fight. You will receive no challenge from me," Percy smiled a bit at his brothers' stubbornness, and Harry chuckled.

"It is the opinion of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes that, while we could surely kick your arse, it would be bad business to trash the company's primary financial backer," The twins spoke in a synchronized monotone, but their eyes were bright and they were grinning. Harry began to relax, but suddenly the wards erected again.

Harry spun to see Ron once again across from him. Ron had discarded his Auror's robes and was now dressed in a light combat outfit. He had his wand held in his right hand and a sword in his left. His stance was relaxed, but altered to fight Ron's style. Ron wore a warrior's glare on his face.

"You know, I thought I was okay with this whole travel thing, and that there was no way that anything you would have gone up against would be as bad as what I faced with the Aurors, but you just dispatched three of the best Duelists in England without breaking a sweat, and Ginny and you talk about people using the AK like it's an everyday occurrence. You think that when trouble follows you around as much as it does that it's safe to have my little sister around? When you have to be that good, what chance does Ginny have when you aren't around?" Ron was circling predatorily now, all pretenses of a friendly duel gone. Harry realized that the first round had been a test. The Auror and the tactician in Ron had told him to not go all out on Harry at first, and to see how much he could take. He had not expected Harry to win. Harry remembered that Ron had seen him really, truly angry before, and it had been rather destructive. With Harry's newfound power, Ron wanted Ginny as far away as possible. Harry growled.

"You're worried because you think she won't be safe? That's rich coming from the boy who followed me into every single fight I ever fought. We were never prepared for those fights, we consistently almost died, and we broke enough rules to give Percy an aneurism, but did you ever even consider leaving me? Did you ever think about how much safer you would be away from me? I doubt it. So you have no right to say anything to Ginny, especially after how hard she's worked. Not to mention the fact she's as powerful as you are and then some," Harry's voice was not raised like Ron's and he did not almost shake in rage. Instead, Harry's voice was deadly quiet and his eyes sparked like icy diamonds. It was something Ron had only seen in Harry once before, when Harry and Voldemort had dueled to the death. He leapt into action.

Ron Weasley, who had for his whole life worried about being second-rate and forgotten behind all of his brothers, was one of the most impressive fighters in Europe. His six years as an Auror had seen him rise to become one of Director Bones' most trusted men. He and his partner, the eccentric Auror Tonks-Lupin, had brought in more fugitives than any other team, and after her retirement, Ron had taken to being a team leader like a fish to water. His brilliant tactical mind combined with his physical and magical prowess made him an incredibly well-known figure. He had also been one of the firmest advocates of adopting the New Model training regimen for the Corps. It had proven to be a huge success, and the British Aurors were now only matched by the Japanese (Who, according to Ron, didn't count because they weren't Aurors, they were Assassins with badges.) in ICW training exercises. The old way had emphasized purely magical solutions to problems, but the New Model system focused on combined physicality, ingenuity, and magical ability. Instead of standing and shielding, Aurors were taught to duck, weave, and dodge, as well as to take cover and cast from both kneeling and prone positions. Additionally, they learned martial arts and fencing alongside dueling. The Aurors also outfitted themselves with a full selection of gear designed by the genius Weasley Twins and based off of Muggle Special Ops gear. Ron could and sometimes did teach all of the new classes. He was now going all out against Harry.

Ron attacked with his sword first, hoping to draw Harry off balance, but Harry suddenly had a sword, which Ron recognized as the Sword of Gryffindor, in his hand. Steel and spells clashed violently, with each man trying to gain the upper hand. Harry had inflicted several scratches across Ron's chest, but Ron had nicked Harry's brow. Both were bleeding. With a deft twist of the wrist, Harry dislodged Ron's sword, but Ron wandlessly Vanished Harry's and the duel became all magic. Ron and Harry traded curses faster than the human eye could follow, each shielding and dodging constantly. Ron flicked a hand and sent a spherical crystal at Harry that exploded when it hit, but when the dust settled, Harry had vanished. Suddenly, a huge chess board, reminiscent of the one in their First Year, rose from the ground. The pieces began to move on their own, but Ron was too busy deflecting curses from every direction to study their movements. He spun to deflect a Bone-Crushing Hex and saw Harry materialize in a whirl of shadows. He growled and sent out a wave of fire which Harry wrapped around himself like a cloak and used to block Ron's next curse. Harry exploded the ground between them and when Ron rose, the chessboard was gone. Ron bounded towards Harry, trying to use his larger size to his advantage, but Harry deftly rolled him over his shoulder, slamming his back into the floor. Ron's wand went skittering away and Harry threw his after it, causing it to cast a bubble around both wands, making them impossible to retrieve. Ron kicked him off and adopted a rugged fighting stance, tensing his body and lowering his center of gravity to be like a rock. Harry landed on his feet, and rested lightly on the balls of his feet, his hands cupped slightly. Ron stepped in and faked high at Harry's head before swinging low, catching Harry in the kidney, but Harry didn't flinch and used his left arm to trap Ron's punch. With a quick sweep of the leg, Harry took out Ron's knee from behind and dropped him to the ground. Harry used the momentum to drop to a knee and swing his fist into Ron's sternum. Ron only barely registered the white glow around Harry's fist before the channeled lightning shocked him into unconsciousness. The bell rang and silence reigned as the Weasley family, which now included the children who had come in to watch. Only Ginny and Lily, who were standing side by side and wearing identical smirks, could keep their jaws from dropping. Both of them had seen Harry actually fight. The silence was only broken when a house elf appeared with the customary pop.

"Mistress, the honorable Lord Weasley is waiting in the entry hall," He bowed slightly and Hermione snapped her mouth shut, forcing her composure.

"Of course, bring him in here, please," She said still sounding a little dazed. The elf disappeared and then reappeared with Mr. Weasley in tow, who was greeted by the sight of his son-in-law lifting his freshly enervated youngest son off the floor. The two traded a nod of respect, and Harry turned to greet him.

"Ah, good afternoon, Lord Weasley, I hope you are well," Harry respectfully shook his hand. Arthur was still having a hard time with the whole 'Lord' thing. Of course, being granted the Malfoy seat on the Wizengamot as well as the family's estate had been immensely satisfying, but sometimes the formality of it caught him off guard.

"I am Harry, but please call me Arthur," He smiled at the man whom he had known since he was eleven. Harry had certainly grown into a fine person, and Arthur could not think of a finer spouse for his only daughter, even if he didn't approve of the methods.

"Yeah, of course, but etiquette says and such, you know," Harry gave a slight smile. Arthur checked the board on the wall. He was reasonably impressed.

"I'm sorry; did I interrupt your schooling of my rambunctious children?"

"Oh no, I was just finishing," The gathered family all laughed, because the duel between Ron and Harry had been highly cathartic. For at least a while, the hard feelings had been suppressed.

"Oh, well I do believe lunch is ready, and we should all eat. Will you stay for lunch Arthur?" Hermione pushed the crowd into the expansive kitchen and settled them down. She disappeared into the kitchen, supervising the elves' final lunch preparations.

"So the kitchen is the largest room in the house, why am I not surprised?" Harry chuckled and Ron punched him in the arm.

"Hey, I resemble that remark! And, for the record, the library is the largest room in the house, followed by the ballrooms, then the kitchen," Ron grinned.

"Oh, that's a shock, how do you ever get her out of there?" Harry ribbed with a grin.

"I have my ways," Ron said with a wink. Simultaneously, eight pairs of hands clamped over eight pairs of ears, and each of the assembled men groaned. Thankfully, the children were seated elsewhere. This generation of Weasleys had proven to be as virile as their father, and besides Victoire and Rose, there were Fred and Alicia's twins, Gideon and Fabian, and George and Angelina's twins, Katie and Molly, as well as Percy and Penelope's son Augustus. All of them were either ten or eleven years old, with Victoire starting Hogwarts next year and everyone else starting the year after that. When asked, the twins described it as "a busy year", usually accompanied by a salacious wink. When you added the Metamorphmagus Teddy Lupin and now Lily Potter to the mix, it was quite the circus.

As the elves served lunch, Hermione began to interrogate Harry about the journals he had left her. She had, according to Ron, not slept since she had received them and already finished them twice, and was now in the process of testing every useful bit of information. She had demanded that Harry provide the background context for each spell, claiming she could not possibly understand the spells without it, to which Harry had responded by saying that it was unfortunate for all of the knowledge to go to waste. Currently, the Weasleys were all trying to avoid Hermione's blistering questioning as best they could. The twins had gone to 'check on the kids' and had not returned, and the others were desperately looking for an escape. Harry, who was suffering the brunt of the onslaught, was calmly but coldly giving Hermione no new information. Suddenly, a Patronus burst into the kitchen, landing in front of Ron. In Kingsley's voice it delivered Ron a summons.

"Auror Weasley, you are needed in the office. Oh, and if Potter's there, bring him too. This is quite important," It gave its message and evaporated, and Ron and Harry swung into action.

"Ginny, get Lily and head on home and until I know what's going on, don't leave. Actually, take Hermione and the others with you, I'm sure they want to see the house anyways, I love you," Harry kissed her cheek, "I'll be home as soon as I can," He stepped away from the table, placed a hand on Ron's back, and the two disappeared in a swirl of shadows.

Harry and Ron rematerialized in the entryway of the Auror Department and whisked through security, rushing into Amelia's office. Inside, they found Amelia, Kingsley, and several men in dress robes and visitor's passes. The men all stood with a regal posture and their noses pointed up in the air, so they could look down condescendingly on anyone they met.

"Ah, there you are Auror Weasley, and I see you have Mr. Evans in tow, thank you for picking him up," Amelia nodded to Harry, who no longer looked like Harry. Instead, his dirty blonde hair was cut in a short military style, he was a few inches shorter, a good deal stockier, and his skin was darker and unscarred. Ron began to open his mouth, but Kingsley cut him off.

"Auror Weasley, Mr. Evans, these gentlemen are representatives for the Society for Preservation of Wizarding Purity and Tradition, and are here to assess the changes made to our Auror Department. Mr. Thomason, Mr. Zambini, and Mr. Alter, these are Senior Auror Ron Weasley, one of our best Aurors in the new system, and Mr. James Evans, the man who designed the training system we use now, they are here to answer your questions," Kingsley sounded rather strained when he said the name of the society, and both he and his wife were tense. The first man, Thomason, began to speak.

"Actually, we see no need to review the program beyond what we have already done inconspicuously," He began, with an air of superiority.

"That is to say, you have spied on Auror training sessions, which is illegal under several Ministry regulations?" Amelia, ever the investigator, asked, glaring at the man.

"No, we were completely within our rights, as those regulations did not meet acceptable standards of Pureblood support and were written by a Mudblood, which makes them null and void. Anyways, as I was saying, we have only come to say that the new regimen you have established is shameful and attempts to turn Wizards into animals or Mudbloods by imposing their ideas on us. This goes against several Ministry decrees, and we wish to warn you that if you do not desist, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the laws by the Old Wizengamot," The man finished in a humph. Ron was shaking, Hermione had written those laws, and here were these backwards old coots calling her horrible things and threatening to arrest her. He barely managed to get his shields up when he felt the Legilimency probe hit. The attack was brutal, but Ron's shields held. He looked up to see the second man concentrating on him, while the first focused on Amelia, and the third on Harry.

Harry had watched the men, who were _his _followers, he could tell. When he felt the Legilimency attack begin, he formed a double layer of walls and allowed the man to breach the first layer, before resealing it and trapping the man's mind. Then, he lanced into the man's mind, digging up all he knew about _him_. Surprisingly, he knew nothing, instead, this plan, while equally devious, was not that threatening. Using the man's mind as a staging point, he leaped into the second man's mind as well. He was too busy attacking Ron to defend himself, and Harry quickly sealed him out of his own mind before ravaging it for more information. From what he could gather, the first man was the one in charge of this particular cell. Harry took a moment to stabilize himself before plowing into the final man's mind. He made it in easily enough, but the man instantly recoiled and attacked, without letting up on Amelia. It took a very powerful Legilimens to be able to wield two probes. Harry split his probe into three pieces and engaged the man in a battle of wills while the third tore through his memories. When he finished, he retracted suddenly from all three minds. The backlash knocked the two unconscious, but the third drew his wand as he slumped to his knees.

"You… are under arrest… by order… of… the Old Wizengamot…," He choked out before Ron hexed him unconscious.

"Dammit, and just when I thought things were going back to normal," Ron swore and kicked the prone form in front of him.

"Someone's trying to kill me again, this is normal," Harry threw an arm around Ron's shoulder and chuckled. Ron cracked a half-hearted grin.

"So what have you discovered from your, uhm, unconventional questioning of these fellows?" Amelia was trying her hardest to not smile, but she was cracking.

"Well it's a rather interesting story, you see," Harry sat down in a chair he had conjured, "But I think that me and Ron's significant others need to be present when I explain," He leaned back in the chair.

"Very well, go and get them," Amelia gestured to the door, but instead, Harry whistled three notes which formed a haunting melody. In a flash of fire, a magnificent red and gold bird deposited a concerned Ginny and a very flustered Hermione in the middle of the office.

"That's better, now how do I begin?"

**A/N: Okay, first chapter back, and I'm introducing the first of the three conflicts. This is the least connected to the backstory and serves more to flesh out the characters and their abilities. It will also serve as the backdrop for the Weasleys and by extension you learning more about the actual events of the backstory. I will hopefully be able to start posting regularly again now that school has balanced out in my life, so stick around. ALSO, importantly, I am looking for a beta for this and future stories, PM me if you want to help. I think I should probably answer some/all reviews, since many pose valid questions, so I'll start now.**

**Anon (1)**: This story and that one may share a passing resemblance (i.e. Lily's name but what else would Harry name a daughter?), but they are quite different, especially as the story goes on. Also, the 'Society' in this story is just a bunch of magically average prats, not some secret, deadly council of Dark Lords. And their mentor was not Grindlewald. I promise they're different.

**Lord Jawblinneron**: Harry and Ginny are very loving and dedicated to one another. They have had some problems and some troubles, but romantically they have always been together exclusively.

**Sbmcneil**: Maybe the reactions are a little tame, but I think they were probably a little shocked at the time. The Weasley boys get some revenge/venting taken care of here, and Molly will have her day. Ultimately, the Weasleys want to accept Harry and Ginny back though, so it won't be too hard.

**Cartman1701**: The story will focus on both Harry & Ginny and Lily. Their stories are much more closely intertwined than anyone else's. As I said above, the Weasleys are too happy for them to be back to be mad for too long.

Thank you for reading, and for sticking around and waiting, and please** review to make this story as good as it can be and give my muse something to feed on. I'll be back with another chapter soon, I promise. Thanks again, read and review, and remember, I own nothing.**


	6. Some Things Never Change

Vanishing Act

Ch.6- Some Things Never Change

**A/N: Alright, we're getting into the swing of things for the first part in this chapter; also, this chapter earns the story its 'M' rating. As usual, I own nothing, but I love it when you read and leave a review, it gets lonely here with just the old muse for company. In that vein, beta reader anyone? PM me if you're interested. Well that's enough of that, so do enjoy!**

As Kingsley's Patronus dissipated, Ginny looked to Harry and saw the look of masked concern. She had seen the look on her husband's face before. It was his 'something could be horribly wrong and I don't want anyone to get hurt but I don't want to look like an overprotective git' face, and it had been a familiar sight in Eastern Europe, especially in the days leading up to Harry's final battle with _him_. Ginny sighed, because while she knew that Harry would let her come with if it was just the two of them, protecting his family came first. She was not, as she once had been, frustrated for being left behind, but instead understood that he was simply offering the best protection he could, which were the nigh impenetrable wards of Potter Manor and the watchful eye of one of the select few who could hope to match him in battle. Not to mention it would give them a chance to sate some of Hermione's questions with non-revealing answers. Harry gave her a meaningful gaze, and she nodded slightly.

"Ginny, get Lily and head on home and until I know what's going on, don't leave. Actually, take Hermione and the others with you, I'm sure they want to see the house anyways, I love you," Harry kissed her cheek, "I'll be home as soon as I can," He stepped away from the table, placed a hand on Ron's back, and the two disappeared in a swirl of shadows. Ginny took this as her cue to spring into action. She let out a short 3-note whistle and in a burst of flames, a beautiful red and gold bird with highlights of emerald appeared in the room, gently landing on Ginny's shoulder.

Ginny stroked its head affectionately and it nipped her ear gently. She smiled at it and spoke softly, "Helios, can you take my family back home please? I want to show them around, and this is the fastest way to take this number," And the safest too, she thought. The phoenix seemed to understand, and he trilled, grabbing the shoulder of one of the kids, who were all holding each other, looking at the bird in awe. With a flash, he disappeared, and Hermione rounded on Ginny.

"Where did you get a phoenix? They are incredibly rare animals and almost never appear to humans!" Hermione was wringing her hands and pacing. Something beyond just being in the dark was bothering her.

"I dunno, he's Harry's familiar, and he just showed up one night while we were travelling, bonded with Harry, got those emerald streaks, and has been with us ever since. That was like three or four years ago," Ginny remarked casually. She had become used to rare and powerful magic being commonplace many years ago and often forgot just how surprising many of their storied would seem. This was all the more reason not to tell them. "Oh, and Hermione, don't worry about Ron and Harry, I think the two of them could take anything nowadays," Correction, almost anything. _He _might prove to be a problem, or many of _his_ elite lieutenants.

"Oh, I know, it's just that they're off doing something together again, and I feel like I'm left out. It was always Harry, Ron and me, or even just Ron and I, but now they're off to go have adventures while we sit and hope they're okay," She sighed deeply, and Ginny rubbed her back gently, as she often did with Lily. Around them, the Weasley clan was being flamed out by ones and twos until they were the only two left.

"Hermione, it's okay, they probably just have to give a report or something. And imagine how I feel. I've spent nine years always being the one at Harry's side, and as soon as he gets back home, he and Ron are back to business as usual," Ginny smiled sadly at her friend as Helios gripped her shoulder and they disappeared in a swirl of flames.

With a small whoosh of flames, Ginny and Hermione were gently deposited in the sitting room of the venerable Potter Manor. It was, by any standards, a huge building, with magnificent grounds and the like. It was also home to a clan of House Elves, a small contingent of Goblins, some Centaurs, and even a few Merepeople in one of the lakes. The house was essentially a haven of unbridled equality and acceptance in a world of bigotry. Ginny smiled as she glanced around the warmly painted sitting room. It and the other buildings on the ground floor were painted in warm reds and gold, while the upper floors were brightly painted in pale blues and silver. All of the rooms had large windows and allowed in lots of light. The furniture was comfortable but simple and the walls were adorned with various relics from the Potters' (Both Lily and James, and Harry and Ginny's) travels. The Weasleys had already been started on the grand tour by the ever-excitable Dobby, who was the head elf of the house.

"Hellos good sirs and missuses, welcome to Potter Manor! I is Dobby Potterself, the Head Elf of 'dis house, and also of the Potterself family! I's will be showing you about and answering questions, if you would follow me!" The elf's English had greatly improved, but that was not the only change. He now dressed in a sort of concierge uniform and stood much taller, at almost 4 feet, than before. He also, shockingly, carried a sword on his hip. Actually, all male Potterselves carried sword and even had battled armor. Dobby's helmet was crested with a brightly colored knit wool sock. Seeing these things, Hermione turned to Ginny, her mouth already partway open in question.

"Before you ask, Dobby and all the elves here are freed, hence the surname, which was their choice, not ours. They do not receive wages, but are given free residency and cooperate with the other species on the Estate. It's a very nice system actually, with the Centaurs farming, the Goblins doing repairs and raising some livestock, the Merepeople fishing and the like, the House Elves cleaning and preparing food for the others using the produce and managing the household, and the Humans providing economic and political support, as well as fine goods the others can't make," Ginny smiled, she was very proud of the system Harry's mother had designed and she had perfected. The magical creatures were wonderful friends and loyal allies, and they shared the utmost mutual respect. Soon, Dobby had led them into the library. It was a huge horseshoe shaped room, with the curved wall covered in shelves and ascending up three stories, with only balconies around the room at the upper floors. The flat wall was all glass, allowing in plenty of reading light. Ginny giggled as Hermione tried to force her mouth shut at the sight of all the books, before immediately shooting off into the stacks. The others had moved on, but Ginny was quite familiar with the tour, seeing as she owned the house, so she followed Hermione in.

Hermione had thought, in her younger years, that the Hogwarts library was the greatest collection of knowledge in the world. Twenty minutes ago, she believed that her personal collection held that honor. Now, she was well aware of how wrong she was. She was currently tracing her finger through the Alchemy section. It was one of the sections low enough on the ground floor to be reached without a ladder. She had passed over several handwritten notebooks belonging to Nicolas Flamel, and was continuing on when she came across a book labeled simply 'Artefacts'. It was obviously out of place, so she went to remove it and find where it belonged. When she pulled it out, however, the bookshelf segment it was in quietly slid away, revealing a green marble hallway that glowed with eerie light. She stepped inside, lighting her wand. She was curious about the room, and she assumed that nothing in Harry's house would hurt her. As she made her way back, the hall widened and she found herself surrounded by many stone tables against the wall. On each of them, in glass cases were various things Hermione could only describe as Dark Artifacts. In one corner, a mannequin stood dressed in the three Deathly Hallows, on another wall hung a vicious-looking black scythe. Shocked by the sight Hermione ran out of the room, only stopping to prop it open with a book. She sprinted through the bookcases, thankfully finding Ginny, who she grabbed and dragged back towards the secret room.

"Ginny, I found something you need to see, it's really important and I think you may be in danger," She pulled Ginny into the room, and saw her eyes go wide, "See Ginny, look at all of this, Harry's becoming a Dark Wizard. You need to take Lily and leave. It's for the best," Hermione's mind had clicked into gear and began to churn out facts. Harry had obviously cracked under the strain of fighting Voldemort and turned to Dark tendencies, and then his studies in Europe had made him fully turn. Then, he enchanted Ginny and the girl so they would believe him. It explained why they were so secretive, and why they never argued, and why they were suddenly so much smarter than she was. It was, she concluded, the only possibility. However, when she tried to explain this to Ginny, she just received indignation.

"You dare accuse my husband of being a Dark Lord? After all that he's done for you, you think you have the right to question him and interrogate him? You see all this; this is our life's work. We travelled the world, learning and training, for a whole decade! Of course he knows more about it than you do, he's been using it to stay alive for his whole damn life! You want to know what this is, because I'll tell you! It's a vault! A vault full of all of the horrible Dark tools we've recovered in a decade and couldn't destroy! If we wanted to use them we wouldn't be using Dark-absorbing marble and keeping these things in warded cases!" Ginny exploded. The wrath that damn Hermione and her damn fucking questions had been slowly creating had reached a breaking point, and she grabbed Hermione and forced her out into the library before Bat-Bogey Hexing the living daylights out of her. She sighed, allowing the rest of her anger to vent off as her Occlumency cleared her mind. Hermione writhed on the ground, clawing at the bats for a few moments before Ginny released her. When she rose, she looked apologetic.

"I find the bats do a remarkably good job of clearing one's head. Ask any of my brothers and they'll agree with you," Ginny spoke tersely, but she was no longer trembling with unbridled rage. Hermione looked at her feet.

"I'm sorry, I guess it just a shock for you two to show up and suddenly be incredible wizards and I guess I just wanted to see a flaw in your perfection, so I overreacted when I found that room," Hermione sat down in a chair and buried her face in her hands.

"We're hardly perfect, we just know how to keep it together really well, but it wasn't an easy thing to learn," Ginny gave a sad smile and put a hand on Hermione's shoulder, "I was serious when I said we couldn't handle the questions though. It wasn't all sunshine and fucking rainbows where we were, and some of that stuff is a little hard to relive. And some of it is Ministry Top Secret Classification Zeus, so even the Head Unspeakable couldn't see it. And some of it is just fucking private, okay?" Seeing Hermione's hurt look, Ginny amended herself, "I mean, you can ask questions, and if we can, we'll answer them, just don't push it,"

Hermione only shook her head, "I think it's bad to keep all this to yourself-," Ginny interrupted.

"Harry knows, as do Gregory and some others, I have people to help me, people who were there. Speaking of Harry, he needs us," She said this suddenly and raised her hand, grabbing Hermione. As if on cue, Helios burst into existence, grabbed them, and flamed away.

The two young women arrived in the Office of the Head Auror to find Minister Shacklebolt and Director Bones as well as Ron and Harry and three unconscious men in overly nice robes. Ginny gave Harry a meaningful glance, which he returned, and then nodded.

"I see, Pureblood bigots, how nice. I suppose it's better than Death Eaters," She shrugged and slipped onto Harry's lap, and he coiled his arms around her.

"So Harry, what did you discover from these men?" Amelia looked both concerned and curious.

"Enough to have questions, but not enough to have answers," Harry muttered to Ginny under his breath, she chuckled, reminiscing. Despite what she told Hermione, there had been a hell of a lot more sunshine and rainbows than there was any right to be, "Okay, where to begin? Well, first off, despite their obvious belief that they are big shots, they aren't. Also, this 'Old Wizengamot' isn't planning a war, just a clean coup. They're a bunch of blood supremacists who want to finish Dolores Umbridge's work. I don't know much else, or rather, they didn't, but the first guy was supposed to report back to his contact in Diagon Alley in a few weeks. That's all I've got. Ginny, we should probably head home so Lily doesn't get worried, or anyone else for that matter. I can honestly say that, for once in my life, I completely trust the authorities here," Harry grinned, linked his arm with a frowning Ginny and flamed away.

The young Potters arrived at their home and immediately Ginny set into Harry, only holding off to quell the Weasleys' questions and to send them home. Lily went off to play with the house elves, and Ginny finally went off.

"You are really going to sit back and let the 'authorities' handle this? What happened to doing it yourself, what happened to the two of us?" She didn't raise her voice, but her anger radiated, her brown eyes swirling with molten anger. Harry just grinned.

"Oh, sure, the guy has a meeting in two weeks, but he also has one in three days, one with an old friend of ours. You remember the Russian Red Bear?" Harry placed a comforting hand on Ginny's arm, drawing her into a hug and a quick kiss. When they broke apart, Ginny was smirking.

"Oh Harry, you ruffian, you're always taking on the hard jobs yourself. What would your mother-in-law think? Anyways, what is Bear doing in England? He always struck me as the isolationist type," Ginny and Harry had drifted into their study, easily the most heavily warded room in the house. Actually, it was a bedroom, several studies, an exclusive library, an armory, and a dueling chamber which also served as a blast chamber. The main study had a huge map of Europe on a table, covered in colored dots and circles which were moving and shifting.

"I don't know, I do know that the man I interrogated was supposed to discuss pureblood support from Eastern Europe, and Bear definitely meets the Dark, pureblooded bigot mercenary requirements. I told the Aurors that the Society planned a relatively bloodless coup, and while they definitely are, for the most part, there is a group that wants a lot more blood. Unfortunately, that group is winning," As he spoke, Harry added a new color to the map and drew a circle around England, with a smaller one in Russia. He added some dots and moved some others. Ginny peeked over his shoulders, checked another map on the wall, and grabbed a quill and some parchment.

"So you're saying we should get the old team back together?" She pulled out a list of names, the top of which was adorned with an ornate phoenix, not dissimilar to Helios, as both looked more like hawks than swans, like Fawkes had.

"With some new additions, absolutely I think we should. Especially Gregory and Ozymandias, their particular skills would be useful. Katarina would be a help too," Ginny narrowed her eyes at the other woman's name, but addressed the letter anyways. Instead of writing, Ginny took out a bottle of gold wax, which she poured into the center of the parchment, before pressing it with a large version of the phoenix seal and tapping it with her wand. Several similar letters later, she handed them to Helios, who flashed out of existence. With that done, she collapsed on a couch with her husband.

"Are you okay dear? You've seemed anxious these past few days," Harry ran his fingers gently through her hair, breathing in her scent.

"Yeah, I'm just stressed I guess. I mean, I'm glad we're back, but it's kinda awkward to try to fit back into the family mechanic, especially now, with them and their children…," Ginny trailed off and Harry lightly brushed his hand down her cheek before caressing it softly.

"They haven't changed," He whispered in her ear softly.

"No, but I have. I've changed, and they're all the same people they were ten years ago. They've grown, matured, and branched out, but they're still the same. Me, I've changed. I've done and seen things that change a person. I've taken lives, Harry, none of them have ever done that, they've never had to face what I've faced, what we've faced," She buried her face into Harry's chest and he kissed her forehead.

"Ginny, you've not changed that much either, you're the bright, vivacious, wonderful girl I fell in love with, and you've only gotten better," He brought her head up to his and kissed her gently. She returned it softly at first, but the passion grew between them, and Harry slid his hands down her sides while his lips worked across her jaw and down her neck. Ginny's head lolled in pleasure, but she retained enough control to grab Harry's shirt and tug it over his head, tracing her hands up and down his back. Harry pushed her shirt up, kissing her side, her stomach with its long scar, and finally her perfect breasts. She pulled the shirt off and wound her hands into his hair. Harry's hands were busy elsewhere, slipping beneath her waistband and massaging her, making her moan. Quickly, she kicked off her pants, and then removed Harry's equally quickly. Harry growled as she brushed along his length before flipping on top of her and thrusting inside with practiced ease. They quickly lost themselves in the motion of their bodies and the rolling fire in them that rose to a blinding climax, leaving them panting in each other's arms. Ginny sighed and tucked into Harry's chest as he picked her petite form up with ease and carried her into the bedroom, laying her gently down and lovingly tucking her beneath the sheets before rolling into bed on his own side and wrapping his arms around her back. With that, the two slipped into a less than blissful unconsciousness.

"Really Harry, you thought you had bested me? You thought that just by destroying my body you could be rid of me? I am more than a man! I am a god and I cannot die! No matter how many have fallen before you, I will always be your better!" A tall, pallid man strode towards Harry as he lay, beaten on the ground. The man's inhuman face accented by Harry's green eyes and shrouded by his black hair. Its nose-less glowered at Harry and it raised its wand.

"Crucio! And you think you can win some great triumph for the Light? What gives you the right to call yourself 'Light'? You've killed and tortured human beings! You've become what you have so long fought! You're a killer, a murderer, and for that, you are sentenced to death! Avada Kedavra!" A flash of green and Harry snapped awake to cool hands on his face. Ginny was looking down at him, cupping his cheeks with her hands. Harry sighed and she kissed his forehead.

"Nightmare?" Ginny's eyes were warm with concern and love.

"Yeah," Harry sighed and tried to still his shaking hands.

"That bad huh? Not even an 'I'm fine' to get me to leave you alone? What were you dreaming about?" Her voice was soft, with a spark of humor. Harry cracked a small smile.

"Nothing, just some horrible fiction," Harry kissed her lips before rising. But the best fiction has its grounds in reality.

Breakfast in the Potter household was usually chaos, with several families of house elves, some dwarves, and the Potters all eating at the same table, at Harry's insistence. The end result was a lot of shouting in several different languages, and the occasional flying produce. Today, however, there was no such chaos. Harry had just announced that Potter Manor would be going to military standby as a precaution. Breakfast had been fast, and the children had been dismissed. The only ones who remained at the table were Griphook, the leader of the goblins, and his advisors, the Centaur Council, Dobby and Kreacher, who headed the Potterselves, and Harry and Ginny. The table was now a large map of the property and several controls. As the discussion of the plan of action wound to a close, Harry dismissed his allies and friends to their places. Before long, he received the all-clear from all the various teams who were in place. With a wave of his wand, Harry initiated the Manor's defenses.

With a violent shake and a grinding noise, the Manor's outer hedge wall began to shift and grow, rising and widening, the hedges turning into solid rose granite topped with battlements. Towers formed, and on them were large crystal ward stones with rune-engraved bases. When the walls settled, the stones began to whir and the additional wards snapped into place. Inside the walls, the various outbuildings had hardened and adopted a practical, military look. The Manor itself had grown and changed from elegant red brick to sturdy granite. The windows had shrunk and the rooms had adapted to serve as barracks and armories alongside training rooms and parade grounds. Potter Manor was ready for war.

"Your ancestors didn't mess around, did they?" Ginny watched the transformation on the once-table, now-situation map, which showed the Manor, its grounds, and the surrounding countryside.

"Yeah, and neither do I, I reinforced everything and added some of my own tricks, this is the safest place in England, I guarantee it," Harry grinned as his plan came together.

"I don't doubt it, so what's the next step in your master plan, O Genius?" Ginny punched him lightly in the arm and he chuckled.

"Now, we wait," He smirked as she looked at him expectantly and drew pinched fingers across his lips. Ginny glared, but further interrogation was prevented by Lily's arrival to the war room.

"Dad, why did we activate the Manor's defenses?" Lily looked around her not appearing afraid or anxious, simply curious.

"We may have some people coming after us, and England in general, so we're going to be safe," Harry didn't sugarcoat it or try to lie to Lily, she had seen worse. In response, she nodded contemplatively.

"So are Gweggy and Ozzy coming? And Nat and Kyle?" She flashed big green puppy eyes at Harry and he grabbed her into his arms.

"Yep! We're getting everyone back together again, the whole gang," Harry tossed her over his shoulder, fireman style and bounded towards the gatehouse to wait for his guests.

"What about Ginny's family?"

"Maybe, at least some of them, anyways,"

"Ok, when do they get here?"

"Probably about," Harry checked his watch, "Now," Right on cue, Helios burst into existence, along with another phoenix, carrying a motley bunch of people. In the center stood a man dressed in fur and leather who had strange orange cat eyes, to his right was a beautiful young woman with sleek black hair and deep blue eyes dressed in regal robes, standing a little behind her was a tall man wearing a hooded black cloak and wearing a sword, next to them was an ancient-looking man wearing Chinese-style robes and carrying a staff, a young man with long blond hair and an elaborate sleeve tattoo leaned casually against the wall, and finally an older woman dressed in a kimono and carrying a sword accompanied by two younger men, both blindfolded and dressed in ninja garb. In the middle of the room was a trunk labeled 'HP&GP&LP" with only the 'HP' being original lettering, the other two having been scratched on. Lily dropped to her feet and ran to hug the cat-eyed man.

"Gweggy!" The man, who appeared to be in his 60's, lifted Lily with ease and whispered something in her ear making her giggle. Harry went and hefted the trunk to his shoulder and cast a levitation charm on it so he could push it along easily. With a quick gesture, he set off for the house.

When he had his company assembled, Harry addressed them in a professional manner.

"It's very good to see you all again, but there will be time to reacquaint later. For now, we have a more pressing issue to deal with. These pureblood supremacists wish to overthrow the Ministry of Magic," No one gasped, in this group everyone had seen stranger things, especially from Harry Potter, "Many of them wish to do it as bloodlessly as possible, so we'll let the Aurors deal with them. A significant minority, however, want something significantly more violent with heads on pikes, mass executions, etc. To do this, they need an army, and they seem to be recruiting, or hiring, from Russia and the old Soviet Republics. I have a plan in place to attempt to cut their numbers before they even arrive, but we need a contingency plan or two, and I'm open to suggestions. If no one had any questions or concerns, let's get down to business," Harry activated the large map of England and they gathered around it, rapidly trading and discussing ideas like a well-oiled machine. Little did they know that in a very different manor, another group was doing the same thing.

**A/N: Ok, so some major story development happens in this chapter, and there'll be even more in the next chapter as we introduce the two (actually three) (or maybe even four) sides and begin to draw lines in the sand. Thanks for reading, it means a lot, and please please please review! Reviews are what make me better and make me want to keep going! I love to hear from all of you and remember that there are people reading and thinking about my little creation. As usual, I own nothing. Also, I'm still looking for a beta for this and another story (that one's still in the works) so PM me if you're interested.**

**wizmage: Thanks for reading and reviewing, I'm glad you like it!**


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